Whirlpool Child
by Madrigal-in-training
Summary: Kushina wasn't impressed. "Seriously? You want to tell the whole village that our little girl is a jinchuuriki? ...Did you lose that much blood, baka?" Minato coughed. "Ah, I take it you don't approve then?" Naruto doesn't grow up under the shadow of Kyuubi. What can Naruto accomplish when she isn't hated? Warning: Major AU. Diverges from canon. Fuuinjutsu and med-nin fem!Naruto
1. Chapter 1

_**Kushina wasn't impressed. "Seriously? You want to tell the whole village that our little girl is a jinchuuriki? ...Did you lose that much blood, baka?" Minato coughed. "Ah, I take it you don't approve then?" A little girl doesn't grow up under the shadow of her prisoner. What can Naruto accomplish when she isn't hated? Fuuinjutsu-specializing med-nin kunoichi femNaru ShinoNaru**_

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Chapter One

It is an odd quirk of history that so minor a change could have such drastic consequences. In a person of some significance to destiny, a death offered too early or too late could alter landscapes, end dynasties, begin a legacy of a thousand years… Kushina Uzumaki was one such person of significance, and had she died a heartbeat too early, then the Kyuubi would have escaped the Yondaime's grasp and destroyed the village of Konoha. By contrast, had she died a heartbeat later, than a Prophecy Child would have been given the gift of anonymity, and more importantly, room to grow into all that she could be.

By a lucky stroke of Fate, this occurrence had Kushina Uzumaki cling to life for a handful of moments longer.

"I'm so sorry, Naru-hime," a tall man with spiky blonde hair whispered, as he drew a small bundle of blankets closer to his chest, "I love you so much… I can only hope that you will forgive me. I swear to you, my daughter, that you will be known as a hero for your sacrifice."

The handsome man was crouched low on the ground, holding a newborn girl with a freshly inked seal etched on her stomach. Besides him was a young woman with long, fiery red hair and dark violet eyes. The waxy pallor of her skin and the deep laceration on her body- that covered her skin from her collarbone down to her right hip- indicated that she was barely clinging to the final strands of life. Despite her tenuous situation, there was a warm smile on her face as she stared at the two most important people in her life. At least until she heard her husband's last words.

"Excuse-me? Minato-kun? Care to explain what you just said?" the blonde man, Minato, gulped as he noted his wife's sickly sweet tone. The one that proclaimed that he had better follow her orders or He Would Regret It.

"I thought we could tell the village that our daughter is keeping all of us safe from the Kyuubi, dear," he said, nervously. "So that they would recognize her as the hero she is…?"

Kushina wasn'timpressed. "Seriously? You want to tell the whole village that our little girl is a jinchuuriki? ...Did you lose that much blood, baka?"

Minato coughed. "Ah, I take it you don't approve then?"

His beautiful wife rolled her eyes. "Minato," this time the tone was bridled with the impatient fondness she held when she tried to explain Great Clan traditions to her civilian-born orphaned husband, "The Kyuubi has just devastated Konoha's infrastructure and killed, if not thousands, than at least a couple hundred shinobi. Their military is in shambles, their leader is going to have his soul sucked out by the Shinigami in a few minutes, and their only available scapegoat is a defenseless little girl."

When Minato opened his mouth, she quickly interjected, "Yes, I know Naru-chan is not Konoha's first jinchuuriki, but the villagers don't know about Mito or me, and we can hardly release that information without instigating a diplomatic incident. After all, Konoha has claimed that they held no jinchuuriki for last few decades or so."

Her violet eyes were alight with emotion and her voice was firm, despite her rapidly paling skin tone and diminishing blood. "I _won't_ have our daughter resigned to the lonely life of a jinchuuriki. For her safety, no one should know her identity other than Sarutobi and Jiraiya. Promise me _this_, Minato-kun. It's my dying wish."

Minato's face softened as he looked at the fading energy in his wife's eyes. Here and now, bloodied, broken, on the brink of death… Kushina had never looked so beautiful. Even now, he could barely comprehend how incredibly lucky he was to have earned the love of such an amazing woman.

"I will, my Hime," he swore, placing their beloved child at the crook of her elbow, where she could be safely covered by Kushina's body. His energy ebbed, making the proud man falter in movement and wince. "You can come out now, you know."

Three figures appeared from where they had been respectfully standing behind the recently fallen barrier. Hiruzen. Jiraiya. Kakashi. Each had tears brimming in their eyes.

"How much longer?" Kakashi asked, numbly, hastening to support his sensei's body.

Minato smiled sadly, feeling his flickering body. "A few minutes at most." He nodded to the wrapped bundle. "Isn't she beautiful?"

"With Kushina as her mother, could she be anything less?" Jiraiya countered, staring down at his goddaughter. "Minato, you stupid, reckless, heroic fool. You should have let me seal the beast."

Minato was too tired to shake his head. "It's the job of a Hokage to protect his people," he rasped. His eyes landed on the eldest figure in their group.

"Take care of her," he begged, blue eyes dimming, "Don't let anyone know… give her a life free of her burden…" The aged leader nodded somberly, inwardly swearing to do everything in his power to follow through on the final wishes of this great man.

Minato's eyes landed on his daughter. "Naru-hime… grow, learn... find love, start a family… I wish… so much… that I could be there with you every step of the way. Your mother and I love you more than you can possibly know. Nothing… has made me happier than becoming your… father. You were… my greatest accomplishment. I'm sorry I could… not be there for you."

With that, the most powerful man of his generation, the Yondaime Hokage, the Yellow Flash, the hero of the Leaf, and the Father of Naruto Uzumaki closed his eyes. A bright golden light cocooned his body as his soul was pulled out of his corpse by a purely black hand and drawn into the terrifying figure appearing briefly above the landscape. The black-cloaked Shinigami hovered for only a second, before another light flash occurred and he disappeared.

Minato Namikaze had just died.

It took a second for all of the forces in the ravaged area to understand this, before suddenly hysteric wailing and cheers alike broke out around Konoha. Unlike the other forces, the three males in the clearing were only allowed to shed a few tears before duty commanded them to stand to attention.

"Kakashi, I need you to take this child and disappear for a few days," the Sandaime took charge, placing the small bundle in the hands of a clearly startled and agitated Hatake, "I'll dispatch Jiraiya to track you down once I get a handle on the situation. Don't speak to anyone. Don't stay at your apartment. Don't make contact with any shinobi- even Rin. Am I understood?"

"Hai, Sarutobi-sama!" Kakashi said, without hesitation. He tightened his arms around the newborn and made the hand symbols for the Shunshin jutsu.

Hiruzen turned to his final student and grimaced. "Are you ready to face the wolves?" he asked.

Jiraiya was obviously teetering at the abyss of grief, but this reminder brought him back to his senses. "We'll have to be," he replied, grimly.

With that, the two legendary shinobi performed their own Shunshin and appeared at the Hokage's office. They quickly strided across the hallway and stepped into Council chambers. It only took a few minutes to assemble the shinobi and civilian councils, each one knowing that they had to act quickly in the face of danger to stabilize their beloved village.

"Sarutobi-sama!" the Yamanaka Clan Head, Inoichi, was the first to speak, "Is it true? Has the Yondaime perished in battle?"

Sarutobi nodded sadly, causing many of the members to gasp and lower their heads in respect.

"The Yondaime was a brave shinobi who truly embodied the Will of Fire," Sarutobi began, the other staying silent out of respect for their fallen leader, "He knew that there was only one way to neutralize the threat of the Kyuubi, and that was to seal it away. He sacrificed his life to power a seal strong enough to save Konoha. The Yondaime stands as a symbol to future generations for his power and sacrifice to protect the Village that we all would die for."

"We shall need a new Hokage then," Tenshi Yamakoto, the Head of the Merchant Guild, said lowly, standing up and bowing to the older man, "I believe that there's only one reasonable choice."

He hesitated, straightened a little, and looked curiously at the man standing next to the Sandaime. "Unless Jiraiya-sama would like to try for the position…?"

"I'm not Hokage material," the Sannin refused, "I have no experience dealing with the administration of the village. Besides, I need to be free to run my spy network, especially since the Kyuubi's attack has put us in such a vulnerable position. I'll need to monitor the reactions of the other Great Villages."

"I agree," another voice, this one belonging to Aburame Shibi said, "Jiraiya-sama's network is far too important an asset to the village. I, too, believe that the Sandaime would be the best choice."

With a little more deliberation, a consensus was quickly agreed that having the Sandaime Hokage retake his mantle would be best for the village. It would bring up the morale of the shinobi, while also sending a warning to the other villages that while Konoha lost its' Yondaime, it was in no way hurting for experienced military commanders.

Sarutobi kept his eyes fastened on his long-time rival, Shimura Danzo, as the deliberations were made. While he looked a little surly, he did not vocalize his disagreement. Even the infamous leader of 'Ne' realized the importance of stability after such a disaster.

After the Sandaime graciously accepted his re-appointment and was sworn in as Hokage, the next matter was brought up.

"Sandaime-sama, I know you said that the Yondaime sealed away the demon's power, but could you please expand on that," Akiyama Mitskuni, the Head of the Agricultural Guild, asked.

For the next ten minutes, Hiruzen gave a brief description of the seal, Minato's actions, and the cost of using it on the Kyuubi. It took a few seconds for the council members to digest all that information.

"Then, will we be killing the demon's container?" Tamachi Mori, Head of a Minor Shinobi clan, asked.

"No," the Sandaime's reply was short, succinct, and punctuated by a burst of killing intent to keep the more panicky members silent, "If the child is killed, then the demon would reform again. We don't know where, we don't know when… but it is unlikely that if it does attack Konoha again, we will be able to defeat it. My grasp of sealing is not nearly as impressive as Minato's and Jiraiya will be needed outside of the village to keep his network running."

"I can understand the need for that," Yakumo Hidashi admitted, "In that case, will the Vessel be receiving shinobi training?"

"That will be decided at the discretion of the child," the Sandaime answered, feeling relief that no calls were made to kill Naruto. Most of these members were an intelligent lot. They had to be since they were running the village, and needed to exorcise their fear in order to make logical for the betterment of Konoha. They may not _like_ the fact that Konoha had a jinchuuriki, but no one wanted to risk the Fox being released.

"The other shinobi villages have jinchuuriki," Danzo frowned, "I move that our one be placed in a specialized training program to develop the Vessel's capabilities to protect Konoha."

"One that you'll be happy to arrange, I'm sure," Jiraiya interjected, wryly, causing a flurry of whispers and negative looks to be bandied about.

Danzo was unperturbed. "My 'Ne' program is ideal for forging loyal tools."

"Unfortunately for you, this child is not a tool," the Sandaime said, "I refuse to let the Vessel be placed in the 'Ne' program. However, the Vessel will be highly encouraged to enter the Academy."

The council members were placated by this olive branch.

"Hokage-sama, what is the identity of the Vessel?" Shikaku Nara asked, respectfully.

The Sandaime smiled. "As the final wish of the Yondaime, the Vessel's identity will be kept a secret. This will keep the child from being discriminated against because of a burden that the child was forced to bear."

Ryoshi Nakamaru was indignant. "I would never discriminate against the Vessel for that," he said.

The Sandaime's smile grew even larger. "I know you won't. Because to do that, you'll have to hate every orphan born this year in Konoha."

"How will we know that any particular Clan doesn't have control of the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki?" Akimichi Choza asked, matter-of-fact.

"That's a good question," Hiruzen nodded to the rotund man, "I give you my personal assurance that the Vessel is not being controlled by any Clan." The Akimichi nodded, trusting the Hokage to keep his word.

"There is one final S-ranked secret to be made today," the Sandaime declared, "The presence of a jinchuuriki won't be leaked to the Village. As far as anyone outside of this room is concerned, the Kyuubi has died tonight at the hands of the Yondaime Hokage."

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As the Hokage was dealing with the village council, Hatake Kakashi was staring down at the bundle in his arms with undisguised fascination and wonder. He has been told to hide, and had followed the orders exactly by entering the old Hatake Clan Compound. It was the last place that anyone would think to look for him, since the Gates had been sealed ever since his Father's death and he had shown no indication of wanting to return to the scene of his Sakumo Hatake's suicide.

Despite his notable dislike for this area though, Kakashi had briefly unsealed the Gates and entered with his little bundle in tow. As soon as they arrived, a Henged Kage Bunshin had been dispatched to gather necessities for the baby. Even though Kakashi was an only child with little babysitting experience, he had an idea of what newborns needed since he had been roped into carrying Kushina-nee's items when she went shopping.

The object of his fascination was in a deep sleep, completely unaware of the teenaged boy's awed gaze. She was a little smaller than a normal baby, which had caused Kakashi some concern before he remembered that she had been born prematurely due to the Kyuubi's chakra. A few tufts of hair on her head indicated that she had inherited her mother's fiery locks, although the tips were stained with sensei's blonde. She hadn't opened her eyes yet, so he couldn't tell if she favored either parent in that respect, but her face was certainly modeled after her father's. Sharply paned features with a pale, fair-skin tone. Her eyes were slanted in the same style of her father's, though the gently sloping nose could belong to no one but Kushina.

She squirmed a little in her blanket, causing Kakashi to hold his breath in worry, before releasing it again when she settled down. Naruto was beautiful. One day, Kakashi was certain, she would catch a lot of eyes, at least until he eviscerated any boy stupid enough to take an interest in his baby sister.

The reminder was enough to weaken his knees, to the point where he drew out a chair and sat at the kitchen table. He was lucky that Minato-sensei had persuaded him into allowing the blonde to place stasis seals on everything. The dust would have been unbearable otherwise.

Kakashi took in a deep breath, and raised a hand to draw it over the newborn's face. Slender scratches had appeared on her cheeks, reminiscent of whisker marks and a sign as her status as a jinchuuriki. Kakashi was more than a little overwhelmed by the events of the day, but not so overwhelmed as not to sketch a glamour seal and hide the marks. It was a semi-permanent one and would only last a week… he would have to ask Jiraiya-san to create a longer-lasting one.

The touch evoked a memory from not too long ago.

"_**Kakashi, guess what? I'm pregnant!" Kushina had been incredibly happy that day and even more beautiful in her happiness. Her eyes were alight with joy, with the news of her new child.**_

_**The young boy had shared that excitement. "That's great, nee-chan," Kakashi's face had hurt later from how widely he smiled that day, but he hadn't cared, "Is it a boy or a girl?"**_

"_**A girl!" Kushina announced, smugly. "Ne, ne, ne… you'll be her nii-san, right Kakashi? Promise me, you'll take care of her?"**_

"_**I promise, Kushina-nee. I'll protect her with my life." Kushina's answering smile was dazzling.**_

He had meant that promise then, and he still meant it now. But looking down at the baby, Kakashi was terrified. Not of the Kyuubi; his faith in Minato-sensei's sealing was absolute. He was scared of how young Naruto was. How _small_. How fragile...what if he hurt her? How could he- barely out of childhood and not particularly stable by any matter of definition- take care of an orphaned newborn?

His sensei's daughter. Kushina-nee's daughter. His _sister_.

Naruto was sleeping now, but it wouldn't be too long until she awoke. What would he do, then? The Bunshin hadn't even gotten back? What if she was hungry? How would he feed her? ...How do you even feed a baby anyway?

The grief from the night and the fear of the occasion rose up again, nearly dragging Kakashi down to its' depths. Had the young Hatake been alone, he would have gladly fallen into that depression. But their was a tiny bundle in his arms that needed him. Naruto needed him. She needed him to protect her, to feed her, to love her, to teach her, to rock her to sleep, to be her confidante, to brutally kill any of her suitors… in short, she needed a parent. She need Minato-sensei or Kushina-nee, and all she had was a broken prodigy who had no idea what to do.

But Kakashi was all she had. And he would do his damn best to be everything she needed him to be, because- his arms tightened- if he couldn't do that, then she would be taken away. And he would be damned a hundred times over if he lost the last member of his family.

The Hatake took a deep breath, popped a soldier pill, formed a few hand symbols and created a second Kage Bunshin. It sapped at his reserves, but he gave that no mind as he gave his clone a few orders. He would not lose Naruto. He would not fail his family for a third time.

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	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note: Sorry about that last chapter being so angsty. Hopefully, this will show Kakashi in a more productive matter, although he's still in mourning.**_

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Chapter Two

It took surprisingly little time for Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure, to settle his village's forces. In a matter of days, the councils had reached an agreement on rebuilding plans, a request was dispatched to the Daimyo for emergency funds, and the relevant Jounin and Tokubetsu Jounin were informed of the relatively precarious status of their village. Hiruzen had been bursting with pride as he saw his villagers begin to pick up the pieces of their life and work towards rebuilding Konoha, even as they mourned for their loved ones. He didn't regret issuing the lie about the Kyuubi at all; the sense of closure it gave people was remarkable, and allowed them to focus on healing without causing divisions between the citizens of Konoha.

Now that the situation was more stable though, Hiruzen felt that he could go and seek out Kakashi and his successor's daughter. He would have sent Jiraiya, but, if anything, the Council had understated the need for the spymaster at this crucial juncture. It had been two days since the Sannin had been forced to go meet up with his contacts, with a promise to return and check up on Naruto when things had settled.

He had considered and discarded the idea of sending another shinobi to reach Kakashi. While he had several trustworthy members of ANBU, a panicked teenaged A-rank shinobi would not share that trust. Moreover, this was a matter that required… delicate handling.

That he would be free from paperwork and meetings for a few hours merited no importance in this decision.

Hiruzen reached for his trustworthy crystal ball and poured some of his chakra inside of it. The chakra melded into the tiny seals painstakingly inscribed on the inside of the ball and activated a corresponding network of thousands of tiny seals throughout Konoha. The seals focused on Kakashi's chakra signature, which had been programmed into this database via his forehead protector when he first became a genin. This was one of the village's most important SS-rank secrets, and an invaluable spying tool for the Hokage.

The picture that slowly bled into the sphere- other seals, such as those on Clan Compounds interfered with this- surprised him. He had not even considered that Kakashi would return to his childhood home, not least because of his intense discomfort that place offered. He must have truly taken his orders to heart to go into the Hatake Compound.

The image inside showed a barefoot, maskless Kakashi in a simple grey shirt and black pants cradling a baby in his arms. His forehead protector had been placed beside him on the kitchen counter, revealing a focused pair with one grey eye and one Sharingan eye. A baby bottle was in his hand, and he was in the middle of feeding its' contents to Naruto. The scene was very domestic, and made him wince.

He didn't expect Kakashi to get _that_ attached, _that_ quickly. Kami, he was going to feel like a complete jackass when he demanded the child back.

Hiruzen sighed, knowing that his position of Hokage required him to complete distasteful tasks such as this. Not in the mood to take a luxurious walk there, he formed a sealless Shunshin and appeared outside of the Hatake Compound gates.

The Shunshin was a very useful jutsu, but it also had its' detractors. For one, it was only a minor speed enhancement, thus making it useless to move through solid mediums. For another, its' speed meant that a shinobi could typically only go straight. For a third, it required several seals and had a chakra "homing" beacon in the place where the shinobi would land, since the speed made it nearly impossible to track your surroundings in movement. This made it simple to track the next destination by all sensors and Jounin-level shinobi. There was also the chakra cost, which demanded a progressively steeper ratio, the longer the distance.

So, to move to the Compound, the Hokage had to form several Shunshin combined seamlessly, to work in a zigzag manner to avoid obstacles and reach his destination. His skill was such that it only appeared to be one Shunshin, and didn't result in any leaves appearing. The leaves were a medium with which chakra could be absorbed as a beacon. Other mediums included water (Mizu), sand (Kaze), pebbles (Tsuchi), and thunder (Rai).

When the Sandaime reached the Gates, he raised his hand and politely knocked. A response came in the form of a Kakashi Kage Bunshin dressed in his shinobi uniform.

"Sarutobi-sama!" the Bunshin said, startled, "I thought Jiraiya-san was coming."

"He had to go check on his spy network," Sarutobi explained, stepping inside, "I've been elected as the Hokage again."

The Bunshin nodded, a trace of sadness appearing on his face as he undoubtedly remembered his sensei. "Congratulations, Hokage-sama. Welcome to my home," Kakashi said, manners kicking in.

"Thank you," Hiruzen nodded to the boy, as they walked up the path to the large home at the center, "Has Naruto been causing any trouble?"

This drew a smile. "No. She has a big appetite, but doesn't cry or fuss very much."

"That's good," Hiruzen replied, before the Bunshin opened the door for him and dispelled. The Hatake Compound was relatively small, considering that they were only a Minor Clan, and a small one at that. Kakashi was the last Hatake in Konoha, and the twelve bedroom home- small for most Clans- would be big for him. The rooms were large and airy, sparsely furnished, though the furniture that was there was of good quality. Most of the Clan land was dedicated to the wilds, with two large training grounds in the back.

Hiruzen reached the room where he remembered the kitchen to have been shortly after the Bunshin dispersed. The boy who looked up at his arrival was far calmer than the one he had seen a few days ago, no doubt from suppressing most of his immediate pain in order to focus his energies on Naruto.

"Good morning, Hokage-sama," Kakashi straightened, and performed a half-bow in his direction, carefully holding the child, so that Naruto was gently pressed against his chest.

"Hello Kakashi-kun," the Sandaime greeted, looking down at the red-haired infant in his arms, "Hello Naruto-chan. You both look well."

"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kakashi replied, "Please take a seat. Would you like a drink?"

"No, thank you," Hiruzen shook his head, "I simply came for a quick chat. May I hold her?"

Kakashi hesitated for a second, but held the girl out to him, "Please don't shake her. I just fed and burped her, but I would still rather avoid upsetting her stomach."

"You're taking care of Naruto surprisingly well," Hiruzen noted, catching the indignant expression on Kakashi's face and quickly clarifying, "I didn't think that you had much experience with children."

The boy's face relaxed. He nodded towards the countertop, that held several thick, heavy books. "I bought a few on child-raising," Kakashi explained, "Mostly things on taking care of an infant… but also a few books that will be useful when Naruto becomes a toddler."

Hiruzen winced. "Ah, yes… about that. I want to tell you that Naruto's identity has been hidden and no one knows of her status as a jinchuuriki. No one outside of the councils and the Jounin-level shinobi even know about Konoha having a jinchuuriki, although I think that the other villages suspect otherwise."

Kakashi relaxed. "That's great, Hokage-sama. Thank you."

Hiruzen winced again. "With that in mind, I believe that the best way to ensure Naruto's safety would be to place her in an orphanage. She could grow up in anonymity, without the burden of her prisoner."

Kakashi stilled. "You can't take her away from me." His dark grey fastened on the bundle in the Hokage's arms while the Sharingan spun slowly as it focused on the Sandaime.

"Kakashi, I'm sorry, but this is really for the best," Sarutobi explained, "Everyone knows that your Minato's student, and if you just show up after the attack with a baby in tow, then it wouldn't take long for them to put things together."

"No," Kakashi repeated, "I mean that you can't take her away from me. I adopted her. She's a member of the Hatake Clan."

The Sandaime jerked back, genuinely shocked. "You _adopted _her?"

Kakashi nodded. "I'm the Head of the Hatake Clan, and I submitted the forms for Naruto's adoption an hour after you gave her to me. Clan matters get special dispensation, so they sent me a confirmation letter two days later."

The smile on the younger man's face was grimly satisfied. "Clan matters are clan matters, Hokage-sama. You can't steal a ward of a Clan."

"Unless it poses a risk to village security," the Sandaime countered, shock falling away to respect for Kakashi's quick actions.

"You'll have to prove that to the Council then," Kakashi's eyes upturned into a quasi-smile, "Since I will, naturally, be submitting a complaint on behalf of my ward. And the jinchuuriki's identity is a secret, so I wonder what explanation you will offer?"

"What about her Clan identity?" Hiruzen asked.

"Everyone knows that Minato-sensei treated me like a son," Kakashi's voice faltered, "The only guardian more suitable would be Jiraiya, and _he_ needs to handle Konoha's spy network. Even Rin's claim pales in comparison to mine- she was just his student, whereas I was adopted shortly after my father died."

The white-haired teen held his breath as he stared at his Hokage. The Sandaime Hokage didn't need to release any killing intent for his anger to manifest around him. It shimmered in the air, a barely constrained wellspring of power. It would intimidate most others to silence, but Kakashi had a lot of experience with powerful auras, from his father, Sakumo Hatake, and from his honorary parents, Minato Namikaze and Kushina Uzumaki.

Still, Kakashi tensed as he waited for the Sandaime to give an indication of his feelings. He knew that what he did was reckless, that logically, an orphanage would provide Naruto the anonymity necessary for her well-being. But he disagreed with it being Naruto's best option. He had only been an orphan for a few weeks, before Minato could bully the administrators into giving him guardianship of the Hatake heir, but he remembered how lonely he had felt.

Anonymity could offer protection, but so could living with an ANBU Captain.

When the Sandaime finally looked up from his intense stare of Naruto and smiled, Kakashi relaxed.

"How do you plan to hide her identity?" Hiruzen asked, because, of course, Minato's brilliant student would have thought of _something_.

"For the most part, she looks like her mother," Kakashi admitted, a little sadly, "You can still notice the resemblance to Minato-sensei, but not unless you look for it. Most people didn't know that Sensei and Kushina-nee were married, or that Kushina-nee was expecting. She has a few whisker-like marks on her cheeks, but I can hide those with seals on a temporary basis until I have a chance to look over Sensei's notes and create a more permanent solution. I think we should hide her in the open."

Hiruzen nodded slowly. "With all of the orphans from the Kyuubi's attack and the last war, the Village would have to encourage citizens to adopt. It would be unusual for an up-and-coming teenaged ANBU to do the adopting, but not too unusual. How will you handle missions?"

Kakashi smiled at his leader gratefully. "My father was an S-ranked shinobi, and amassed a large fortune that was barely spent because of how frugal he was. I own the Hatake Compound and the nearby land, as well as having investments across the village. Not to mention, my not negligible salary from ANBU. I think I can afford a few genin teams to watch over Naruto Hatake when I'm on missions."

"You know that one day she'll have to assume her clan name, correct?" Hiruzen asked.

"I know," Kakashi said, "I don't have any trouble with that."

"Will you be able to handle taking care of a child and being an ANBU Captain?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I'll do what I have to for my family and my village, Hokage-sama. Although, I'll most likely step down from Captain and just become a regular ANBU member. Naruto's my first priority."

"I can respect that," the Sandaime agreed, looking down at the slumbering bundle in his arms. It seemed that little Naru-chan had tuckered herself out from drinking milk. "You know, that Naruto's identity is of the utmost secrecy, don't you? Even your teammate, Rin Nohara, won't be told."

Kakashi shrugged again, not particularly concerned. The Sandaime sweat dropped at this nonchalant reaction. He had forgotten about the reason why Minato found integrating his genin team to be so difficult. Kakashi had- not without reason- considered Minato to be a second father to him, and, being the quintessential only child, didn't enjoy sharing his attention with the 'interlopers', Rin and Obito. The distaste had faded with time since both his teammates had families of their own, though the Uchiha's annoyance was such that Kakashi managed to start disliking him based entirely on his own merits.

The only reason that this distaste didn't extend to Naruto was because the age difference was such that Kakashi's position in the family wasn't really threatened. Besides, Kushina had taken it on herself to involve the antisocial Hatake in all aspects of the baby's development, from shopping for materials to visiting the hospital for scans, to painting the nursery. This had, in turn, made Kakashi eager to meet his future sister. Regardless, despite the fact that Kakashi considered Rin to be his (only) friend, he didn't feel all that reluctant to hide his sister's identity from her.

It was, after all, a family matter, and therefore, none of her business.

"Right," the Sandaime said, standing and returning Naruto to Kakashi's experienced arms, "Well, I'm glad you're adopting so well to the situation. I'll give you the next two weeks off to adjust to this situation, but I'll expect you at work straight after. And, I'll arrange for one of the nearby mothers to check up on you every now and then. Perhaps Naruto could make a new friend."

"Of course, Sandaime-sama," Kakashi nodded, "Thank you for all of your help."

The Hokage's eyes lingered on the newly orphaned Naruto, "It's the least I could do, child. It's the least I could do."

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Once the Hokage had left, Kakashi leaned against the kitchen wall and formed a smirk of relief. That had turned out even better than he had hoped. Naturally, he had no intention to hand Naruto over, but he had expected to have to fight the Hokage for her. Actually getting his support, even indirectly and with a little reluctance, was more than he had expected, but he was nonetheless grateful.

"Well, Naru-chan, it seems like Kushina-nee's political lessons worked, ne?" he said, cheekily, grinning down at the sleeping baby. "Now, I think somebody needs to be settled down on her crib. Would you like Shiba or Urushi to watch you?"

The baby, predictably, did not answer, but that did nothing to diminish Kakashi's pleased attitude as he walked past the kitchen and up the stairs to the second floor. He had chosen to forego the Master's room, since it reminded him so much of his Father. He chose to forego his own room as well, since it was too small to hold everything he needed to keep there. Instead, he settled into the largest guest room, which used to be reserved from Minato mainly, and set up all of Naruto's new things.

Right next to his bed, was a newly assembled blue crib with green and orange bedding. A musical mobile of red, orange, and yellow toads stood above the crib. (It was rather easy to purchase since toads were one of the most famous summons Konoha had) To the side of the crib was a baby's dresser, also decorated with toads lurking behind a painted forest, and right below the main window was a changing area stocked with diapers, wipes, baby powder, etc. Across from his bed and situated close to the door was a rocking chair of dark hazel wood, and on it, was several cushy blankets and a night light that he had yet to put away.

Naruto was carefully situated on the crib, on her back, with her head resting on a thinly folded blanket. There were four plushies in the corner- an orange toad, a white dog, a blue fish, and a yellow slug- but Kakashi didn't place them next to her in the fear that they could fall on the child and obstruct her breathing. Once, he checked that her temperature was stable and that the baby monitor was on, Kakashi leaned down and pressed a small kiss on her temple.

He then turned to his bed and sighed. He had been so busy in the last few days that he had yet to finish putting away all of Naruto's new clothes. The essentials were bought on the first day, but it was only yesterday that his Henged Kage Bunshin could go on a more thorough shopping trip. He had bought everything that he felt a baby would need and many things he was positive the clerk had recommended for no reason. What was the difference between sweaters and sweatshirts, anyway?

Still, if his sister needed a few sweatshirts, than who was he to deny her?

When he had told the clerk that his sister was a girl, she had initially pushed him towards pink clothing. But he had been quick to remember Kushina's deep, irrational, undying hatred of that colour, and interjected that his baby sister had red hair. In between gushing at how lucky Naruto was to be a natural redhead and flirting with his Bunshin, the clerk showed him the more gender neutral clothing in soft yellows and pastel greens. He had been happy to purchase most of the clothes in those colours, though he also snagged a few outfits in blues, purples, and even one pretty silver one-piece.

It only took a few minutes for him to fold and put away Naruto's new clothing, before he bit his hand to make it bleed and formed a few hand seals. In a second, a cloud of smoke signalled the appearance of his summon.

"Hello Kakashi-kun," Shiba's light grey fur lay on the bed, "Want me to watch the pup, then?"

"Yes please," Kakashi said, politely, nodding to the ninken, "This is Naruto."

Shiba peered curiously at the newborn. "She looks a lot like Kushina. Well, I'll be happy to watch her for you. What are you going to do?"

"I need to go renew some of the seals on the property," Kakashi explained, "Most of them are intact, but an inspection a few days ago showed that the ones on the northern perimeter are a little shaky."

"Then you best get to it," Shiba said, making himself comfortable on the bed, "I'll go get you if the pup wakes up. It's Bisuke's turn to babysit her next, yeah?"

"Yes," Kakashi replied, opening his bedside table drawer and removing some sealing materials, "I'll see you later, Shiba. Thanks."

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As Kakashi was securing the perimeter of his home, his old teammate, Rin Nohara, was looking for him. She had been putting it off for the last week due to all of the casualties of the Kyuubi's attack and the hospital's need for all qualified medic-nin, but she finally got some free time now. Although her chakra reserves were just this side of exhaustion and she had little sleep, Rin chose to look for her friend.

She had checked several training grounds, including their old one from when they were teammates under Minato-sensei, but hadn't found a sign of Kakashi anywhere. After asking Gai and Asuma, she learned that he hadn't seeked out any of his usual training partners, and Neko-san was on village patrol, so he wasn't on a mission either.

She sighed, and gave it up for the day. She had to cover another hospital shift in six hours, and needed to get her sleep whenever possible. Hopefully, Kakashi would remember to visit her later, because she missed her friend.

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	3. Chapter 3

_**Author's Note: The stage is set! Now, Naru-chan is going to make her first friend, go to her first check-up, and meet her Father's remaining student for the first time! A pretty eventful day, right?**_

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Chapter Three

Yoshino Nara, the Matriarch of the Nara Clan, gave a despondent sigh, as her son quickly fell asleep in her arms. It seemed her Shikamaru would be just as lazy as his father. It was a rather depressing fact for the mother, as she held her child in one hand and a bag in the other, and walked up to the Hatake Compound. Although the bag was quite heavy, and she had just given birth a few months ago, Yoshino didn't appear very winded.

She was an experienced Chuunin of Konohagakure, although she had retired last year, and the Nara Clan Compound was just three blocks away. This section of Konoha was devoted to Clan grounds, and the Hatake grounds were right next to the Aburame Compound, which in turn, sided against the Nara. Despite the apparent closeness, she had never really visited the Hatake's before. Sakumo Hatake was a part of her Father's generation, and Kakashi was born very late in his father's life, and thus, followed her own generation.

Looking around curiously, she noted that the Compound was mostly clear land, with a forest encircling it's right side. There was a two-story mansion of pine wood and navy blue shutters, situated comfortably in the shadow of several of Konoha's biggest trees. A medium-sized dog with a Konoha hitai-ate, one of Kakashi's infamous ninken, lay on the large porch, dozing in the sunlight. Internally, she gave a nod of approval. This would be a fine home to raise a child.

Admittedly, she had been quite surprised when the Hokage asked her to check-up on Kakashi Hatake, of all people, and his new adopted daughter. She knew that there would be an uptake in adoptions since the Kyuubi's attack, but Kakashi had been one of the last people she would have expected to adopt one. In all fairness, she had never personally interacted with the famous prodigy, but she _had_ heard of him, as had most of the village. Minato's favorite student was what? Fourteen? Fifteen? Several years too early to raise a child, at any rate.

Regardless, it wasn't her place to question the decisions of an experienced up-and-coming Jounin of the village, especially since the boy was doing such a good deed. Instead, she would do her best to ease him into the life of a parent. It wasn't easy to raise an infant, even for her when she had possibly the most laidback baby in the Elemental Nations, and an entire clan of unwilling babysitters to foist him off to. Kakashi would find it even more difficult, balancing missions and childcare as a single parent to a child too young to place in daycare.

She resolved to help the poor boy to the utmost of her ability as she opened the unlatched gate and walked up to the house. When she was only a few meters away, the sleeping dog opened one eye and regarded her wearily. Ah, so Kakashi's guard was less lax than she had been lead to believe.

"Hello," the dog greeted politely, "I'm Pakkun. May I ask who you are?"

Yoshino was familiar enough with her sister-in-law's ferret contract to merely blink once at the talking animal. "I'm Yoshino Nara," the brown-haired woman greeted, "The Hokage sent me to check up on Kakashi and his daughter."

"Alright, then," the pug agreed, taking a deep sniff of the air, "You smell truthful. Follow me."

He got up, and started trotting to the doorway, with the impressed Nara following. He pressed a paw against a hidden panel Yoshino hadn't noticed, making the door swing open, and led her through a long, dark corridor.

"They should be in the kitchen," the pug noted, "The pup usually has her feeding time around now."

Yoshino nodded. "I apologize, but I don't think I got your name…?"

"I didn't offer it," the pug grunted, "But the name's Pakkun. I'm Kakashi's senior summon."

"Are all of the other summons capable of human speech?" she asked.

"No, it's just me," Pakkun replied, "But it's possible that Kakashi will start training a few of the other dogs when he teaches Naruto how to speak."

"The panel on the doorway was very impressive," Yoshino commented, "How do you know that others won't take advantage of it though?"

Pakkun shook his head. "It's decoded by seals, so only me and the other dogs can use it."

Yoshino's eyebrows flew up to her hairline. "I was unaware that Kakashi knew any fuuinjutsu."

"With his sensei, he was bound to pick up some," Pakkun answered, "But he's only an Intermediate Level. I think he plans to work on it some more, at least up to Journeyman."

"That would still put him head and shoulders above the majority of shinobi forces," Yoshino said, offhand, "There are what?- four, five fuuinjutsu users surpassing Kakashi?"

"There's only two," Pakkun corrected, amused at the stunned expression flashing across Yoshino's face, "There's Hokage-sama and Jiraiya-sama."

"He's only fourteen, fifteen at most," the woman murmured, "What talent…"

"Kakashi cheats," the pug grinned, "He's a genius with access to the Uzumaki training manuals that they offer to close friends of the Clan. Not to mention, personal help from Minato, Kushina, and even, Jiraiya on occasion."

"The Uzumaki training manuals," Yoshino repeated, disbelief ringing in her tone, "How the hell did Kakashi get access to _those_?"

Pakkun didn't answer, though she had not expected him to do so. Clan matters were of a very personal nature, and her outburst could easily be misconstrued as an attack on their honor. Moreover, it was very rude, and she flushed bright red in embarrassment.

"I apologize for that comment," she said, "I misspoke and it was out of line."

Pakkun looked at her with a heavy-lidded, piercing gaze, before turning away. "It's fine. Many people would be taken aback by Kakashi's relationship with the Uzumaki Clan. You didn't really mean it."

The dog stopped walking then, and she had to hastily stop as well, before she tripped over him.

"Well, we're here," he announced, nodding towards the large, bright, and airy room, "The kitchen."

The pug then turned and trotted back in the direction they had come from, presumably to return to the sunny porch. Yoshino peered into the room, hesitant, before she stepped inside. It was really quite warm and inviting, with cheery yellow walls, blue and green tiles, blue countertops, and a table set in the middle made of honey wood. Leaning against the furthest counter was the subject of her visit.

Hatake Kakashi looked far older than his fourteen years would suggest. It wasn't anything in particular of his physical features. Despite the spiky, silver-grey hair, his unmasked face was very young, still touched with the roundness of youth. The aged before his time sense was found in his eyes- coldly polite- and his posture, the indifferent slouch of a man who knew he could handle the threat in front of him with ease. He wore casual clothing: a short-sleeved white shirt matched with grey trousers. His feet were bare. His kunai holster was not.

Yoshino felt his eyes flicker over her, not with the leering gaze of other teens his age, but with the trained assessment of a shinobi. She got the feeling that he didn't want her to be here, and relegated her posture accordingly. Attempting to be as conciliatory and harmless as possible- the amused quirk of his eye showed that Master, like Summon, was adept in reading body language- she walked closer.

His arms were enclosed, just a tad bit too tight, around a bundled up newborn. The infant was staring at her with light violet eyes, almost lavender, in that alert way her Shikamaru never managed. She was much smaller than Shikamaru as well, with fiery red wisps of hair and a pale pink complexion. Her outfit consisted of a green onesie with a bright orange toad plastered in the front.

"Your son is much bigger than Naruto," Kakashi said, understanding the questioning look in her eyes.

"Yes, but babies grow much larger in the first few months," Yoshino explained, putting her bag down and shifting Shikamaru until both arms were cradling him, "Shikamaru here is already five months old. How old is Naruto?"

"Two and a half months," Kakashi replied, nodding towards one of the chairs, "She was born near the end of July, a little premature."

"Do you know who her birth parents are?" Yoshino asked, accepting the offered seat.

"No," Kakashi lied, "I know that at least one parent was a shinobi though. Clanless."

"Well, that's a start," Yoshino said, "Do you have a birth certificate?"

Kakashi shook his head, and Yoshino nodded. "That's understandable. Many of the records were lost during the Kyuubi's attack. Perhaps you can go to the hospital for Naruto's check-up and get one made there? Has she had her first checkup?"

"No. I just recently got custody of her and was busy setting up the house and buying her things," Kakashi answered, heading towards the counter where a ready made bottle was standing.

"At this point, it's not much of an issue," the brunette bit her cheek to hide her smile at the absolutely adorable sight of the aloof teen feeding the baby with an experienced hand, "Have you bought everything necessary for the baby?"

He rattled off a list of purchases and she looked satisfied. "That should be all of the necessities, but I would advise getting a baby sling. It was enormously useful for me when I had to finish a chore but didn't want to leave Shikamaru alone. I would also suggest purchasing a baby walker and a playpen. They won't be used for some time, but I found it easier to purchase them all at once and have them at hand when they were needed."

She paused, as a thought occurred to her. "Er… you can afford these things, right?"

Kakashi lazily shrugged, unconcerned. "I'm rich," he claimed, nonchalantly.

Yoshino merely smiled. She was well-aware that Sakumo was a legend, and that Kakashi was well on his way towards becoming one, but a confirmation was never amiss. Though, if nothing else, Minato would have made provisions for his ward to be financially secure.

"How do you plan to handle your shinobi career along with raising Naruto?" she asked.

"I was planning to hire genin for D-rank babysitting missions," Kakashi answered.

"Will she become a shinobi?"

"That would be her own choice."

"Are you committed to any relationships right now, or are you planning to start any?"

"Naruto is the focus of my attentions now."

"How are you getting knowledge on raising a child?"

"I bought several relevant books on the subject."

The questions continued on, relentless in their pace. No subject was left uncovered, from Kakashi's profession to his social life to his future plans regarding Naruto. The Hatake answered each question promptly, politely, and most importantly, knowledgably. At the end of her rapid-fire gutting, Yoshino was satisfied that Kakashi was a reasonably well-adjusted and competent guardian, who clearly adored his adopted charge.

Kakashi was merely convinced that Shikaku Nara had much more bravery than he had previously attributed to him.

Yoshino leaned back against her chair, more at ease in the home of this prodigal ninja. "This is my son, Shikamaru," she introduced, making practiced cooing noises to awaken the sleeping child. The baby grumpily opened dark-colored eyes, staring at his mother with a passable amount of childish reproach. Unperturbed, Yoshino simply tilted her son in the direction of Naruto, to which the baby's eyes filled with a curious light once catching sight of the other baby.

"This is Naruto, Shikamaru," she introduced happily, bringing the larger baby closer, "She's our new neighbor. Isn't she absolutely adorable?"

Shikamaru took no notice of his mother's words as he brought an inquisitive hand closer to Naruto's face. Kakashi recoiled, moving his sister away from the grabby baby, causing the Nara to pucker up his face and release a whimper. Yoshino looked rather surprised by that reaction, even as Kakashi and the baby Shikamaru engaged in that type of secret male communication that was at the very heart of nature. Finally, the Nara turned away with a little scowl on his face, acknowledging the Hatake's alpha male status. Kakashi stared down at the younger Nara, somewhere between confused and smug.

Yoshino started to giggle. "I think Shikamaru just made a new friend!" she crowed.

Kakashi looked more than a little disgruntled, but was intelligent enough to keep his mouth shut.

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Scarcely had Yoshino left before Kakashi started to pack up for a trip to the hospital. It wasn't like he had anything better to do. Naruto had just been woken up from a nap and fed, and bath time was scheduled shortly after his dinner. The property seals had all been renewed, additional shopping could be done by a Henged Kage Bunshin, and Naruto's new stroller had been set up. He had also just finished another exhausting study of fuuinjutsu, so a walk outside would do him some good. Kakashi hadn't been planning to continue his studies of sealing beyond Intermediate Journeyman, but with a jinchuuriki in the house, Beginner Mastery was the least he could settle for.

Naruto's outfit was changed, not (just) because Kakashi took a guilty pleasure from dressing her in all manner of adorable clothing, but because any toad-related paraphernalia would have to be avoided until her identity as a Hatake was firmly established. She may not have been Sensei's spitting image, but the resemblance was certainly there, and being with Kakashi did her no favors for anonymity. Instead, he chose a pastel blue onesie embroidered with sakura flowers and matched by cute knitted booties of the same colour.

Naruto didn't make any noises as her nii-san settled her into the blue stroller (the pink one was unacceptable and some Yamanaka mom was eyeing the purple one with a hungry gleam in her eyes). Kakashi was so, _so_ grateful that his precious Naruto took after Sensei, rather than Kushina-nee, in personality. It was bad enough trying to figure out how to change a diaper or how to keep the milk at the perfect temperature without having a screaming and crying infant in the background.

It was awkward when he first began to walk with the stroller. He was tall for his age, and had to slump forward a little to push it. It was large, unwieldy, civilian- and Kakashi despised how it forced him to walk slower. Naruto was fascinated by her ride though, as much as a swaddled infant of 10 days could be, and the weather was pleasant enough. It was a relatively long walk due to how the Clan Compounds were situated off to the side of the village, where they could have privacy necessary for training.

He passed several other Clan members along the way, mostly Academy-level kids or mothers going out for shopping. There were a few shinobi on their days off (few, because the Kyuubi's attack had demanded that all shinobi return to the force posthaste) that passed their eyes over the teen with the stroller, then recognized the famous Copycat no Kakashi and gave a double-take. No one tried to talk to him, which was expected considering he had cultivated a persona of indifference even with his closest friends.

The hospital was a large, well-lit building despised by all shinobi barring medic-nin. Even the smell of disinfectant made Kakashi want to turn around and hastily walk away. A mental reminder of why he was here though had Kakashi push his stroller up to a line waiting for the receptionist and ignoring the looks he was getting. He quickly progressed through the line until he was standing in front of a young, tired-looking woman with short, brown hair tucked behind her ears, pale pupiless eyes, and the classically arrogant features of the Hyuuga. A band of navy cloth was tied around her forehead, signifying her association to the Branch House.

"Good afternoon," she said, politely, eyes briefly widening as she recognized Kakashi and then practically bugging out as they fell on Naruto, "How may I help you?"

"I recently adopted an orphan and would like to get a full check-up for her," he replied, "I also need to get a birth certificate and set up a health-care plan." The woman's eyebrows rose, both in surprise and- was that approval?

"I see," the receptionist said, slowly, "Well, do you have any doctor that you go to regularly?"

"No," Kakashi answered, "But may I request Rin Nohara? She was my former genin teammate."

The disconcertingly blind in appearance Hyuuga eyes briefly skimmed over a few papers in her desk before the girl looked up. "Nohara-san is currently free of patients and has the requisite authority to fill out a child's certificate. You can find her in Room 4D."

"Thank you, Hyuuga-san," Kakashi replied, thankful for her professionalism. Most young girls tended to be taken in by his reputation, with clan-affiliated kunoichi being the least-affected group. He gave her a grateful eye-smile, and she merely nodded in response, though a stain of red appeared on her face.

Kakashi turned to the side of the desk and carefully maneuvered Naruto's stroller to one of the waiting areas set up to the side. He clipped the stroller to one of the set posts and then picked the infant up, before walking up the stairs and entering a sterile hall. The hospital rooms were numbered in a different pattern on each floor, a precaution in the case of assassination or invasion since non-Konoha citizens wouldn't have gotten used to the floor style. In the fourth floor, the rooms worked in a counter-clockwise, consecutive odd-letter position, where rooms A, C, E, and so on lined the outer ring of the building and were closest to the right stairs and then switched to B, D, and F as you moved closer into the building's center.

Room 4D was actually the second most often visited room for Kakashi, right after the emergency ANBU mission room, as it was Rin's most often assigned room. His brilliant former teammate had taken to the challenging study of iryo-ninjutsu like a fish to water. Rin had quickly ascending the ranks until she got Level B3 payment, just five levels away from head of the hospital and nearly rivaling a year-tenured ANBU officer. For a fourteen year old girl who had only studied medicine for the last two years, this was quite an accomplishment.

The door to 4D was open, so Kakashi only rapped on the side a few times out of politeness before walking in. Rin was sitting at her desk, working through paperwork when the noise made her look up. Rin looked awful. Her normally straight dark brown hair was messily framing a thin, pale face with thick circles under her eyes and a mouth that tugged downwards into a perpetual frown. Her clothes were also somewhat unkempt, though professional with a slate grey blouse and navy skirt under her doctor's coat. The only dash of colour on her were the violet rectangles on each cheek. When she caught sight of her teammate, her eyes lit up.

"Kakashi!" Rin exclaimed, jumping out of her seat, and making a rush towards hugging him. Her eyes registered the child in his arms first though, and her feet made a short skidding sound just before she barrelled into the silver-haired teen. The eyes took in the wisps of dark red hair, the wide violet eyes, the vaguely noble features of the Great Clans…

"And before I make a wrong assumption…?" she trailed off.

"Adopted," Kakashi supplied, "Her name is Naruto."

Sharp brown eyes, flecked lightly with edges of red, caught his own grey eye. "That's the name Sensei would have used…?"

"I thought it would be a good way to honor him," Kakashi answered, mildly, "Since he had died recently." Her eyes filled up with tears at this reminder, and she moved forward again to hug him, careful of the child in between them.

"Oh, Kakashi," Rin sobbed, "Sensei's dead! Dead! Just like Obito… Kami, we're the only ones left…"

He stiffened, but brought his remaining arm around her regardless. They stood there silently for a few minutes, Rin quietly sobbing and him merely standing there, like a statue.

"Yes…" he said finally, hollowly. "They're having a funeral soon… will you be attending?"

Rin moved her face off his chest, leaving a noticeable damp spot on his Chuunin vest. "No," she wiped away the last indications of tears on her face, "It's going to be a political circus. I'll attend the Memorial Stone later, when it dies down a bit."

Kakashi nodded, agreeing with her words. It seemed wrong to go to this publicized event, filled with people who loved the Yondaime Hokage, but not Minato-Sensei, who would stare at him with pity for losing Sensei without ever realizing that he had the last and best connection to Sensei than anyone else. He had Sensei's daughter.

Rin didn't know that Sensei wasn't truly gone though- he wasn't even sure if she was told about the pregnancy. Kakashi felt a trickle of guilt here. He could build himself back up with the help of Naruto, but Rin didn't have anyone left to hold onto. Well, except for him. He grimaced.

"...Your apartment was one of those destroyed by the Kyuubi?" he stated, somewhat reluctant.

"So was yours," Rin remarked, looking up at him with a hopeful expression on her face. He was really glad his friend wasn't a fangirl, and thus made his offer more palatable.

"I'll be living at my Clan Compound," Kakashi sighed, "It's very large, and if you want, you can stay with me." Rin stepped back to just _look_ at him, lips quirked with amusement.

"Thanks Kakashi-kun," she said, with genuine affection, "But I think you'll need some privacy to come to terms with all of this. And to raise Naruto. Did you really adopt her?"

"Yes," he placed the girl into her waiting arms, to which Rin automatically starting cooing over her.

"She's so adorable," Rin squealed, "And that hair! Naruto's just going to be a little heartbreaker one day, isn't she?" This time Kakashi's grimace was even more obvious.

One eyebrow rose in a knowing gesture. "So how did evil slip through the vigilant eyes of our prized ANBU Captain?"

"He was carried in by his mother," Kakashi grumbled. At her pointed look, he elaborated. "The Sandaime asked Yoshino Nara to check up on me, since she recently gave birth. She brought her son, Shikamaru, along with her."

"I agree that the idea of you taking care of children is terrifying," she remarked jokingly, "But why would the Sandaime get involved?"

Kakashi shrugged. "I think all new adoptees get check-ups by Child Services. With the amount of adoptions being involved, a few outside sources will have to be brought in."

His head was cocked to the side, with one eye offering the heavy-lidded gaze of reproach. "I've taken excellent care of Naruto. Nara-san agrees with this."

Rin smiled warmly. "I know you do. You're too meticulous not to. I'm sure you'll make a wonderful father." Kakashi shrugged in discomfort.

"More of a big brother figure, I think," he said, drawing a hand through his spiky hair, "No one's really going to take me as her dad."

Rin raised a skeptical eyebrow as she looked between Naruto and her new adoptive guardian. Kakashi may not know it, but he shared several underlying features with his ward, mostly the gentle sloping of her nose, the feminine sharpness of her chin, the slightly slanted cut of her eyes, the high cheekbones and the pale skin tone. Obito had also shared those features, and had been likewise unaware of his naturally aristocratic beauty (because beautiful was the only way to describe them). Rin hadn't been a member of an old clan like either of her two teammates, and, while she could admit that she was fairly pretty, had never had that look of nobility those two had enviably possessed.

Naruto also had that appearance of refined breeding that made their supposed relation not so unbelievable.

"If you say so," she finally said, "So, what will her full name be?"

"Naruto Hatake," she was once again amused to find the note of pride in the boy's voice.

"Birth parents?" Rin was actually quite curious about this one. There was a chance, a very good chance, that Naruto was a clan brat, and that raised a few questions. Like why the last Hatake was able to raise her instead of, say her Clan?

"Unknown," Kakashi replied. "It's probable that at least one was a shinobi."

Rin started jotting down the answers. "If there's a probable relation, than I can offer a blood test."

"None of the Clans claimed a child around this time," Kakashi answered. Rin's expression didn't change, but her interest did peak. Clans were, to put it mildly, very careful to keep track of their progeny, unless they had the last name Uchiha or Hyuuga, in which case, they were obsessive. Could one of Naruto's parents have done something that caused the family to deny any of their children? An unfavored marriage could do that. A bastard child could be even more likely, though if dojutsu were kept in mind, then again, it couldn't be a Hyuuga or Uchiha.

Of course, Naruto _could_ just be from civilian stock. Rin looked back down at the violet eyes and cupid's bow mouth and promptly dismissed that thought. Yeah, no civilian could look that close to a redheaded Uchiha.

She performed a simple diagnostic jutsu to learn that Naruto was a healthy newborn, if somewhat underweight from being born premature. Kakashi was concerned about her low bone density and mild anemia before she told him that it was a common issue with premature infants. A liquid iron supplement was promptly provided, with the suggestion that he refrain from the more intensive blood tests until she was at least ten months old since her red blood cell count was so low.

"Are we done?" Kakashi asked, after a tiring half hour of tests being passed on a currently dozing infant.

"Almost," Rin replied, sweetly, before walking up to him, channelling some chakra into her hand, and slamming a fist against the boy's stomach. The silver-haired ANBU doubled over with a near-silent groan, making his dark-haired former teammate smirk with satisfaction. With Kakashi's well-developed self-control, that was probably the best she was going to get unless she resorted to more permanent harm. As it was, she merely crossed her arms when he looked up with a slightly watery eye.

"Don't wait for over a week before visiting me next time, baka," she sighed, gently righting him and placing a softly glowing hand against his bruised ribs. "I missed you."

"...Sorry," Kakashi finally muttered.

"Call me whenever you need help with this one, alright?" Rin said, smiling, "I make a pretty decent babysitter, and you already know my normal hours. We'll be returning to those in a week after the hospital stabilizes."

She laid Naruto back in Kakashi's arms, turned him around and pushed him out the door.

"I have another few cases to get to before I can go home," Rin continued, cutting off a brief yawn to smile at her last childhood friend, "And Kakashi? I know you're going to be really busy with ANBU and parenting and all, but drop by for a talk sometime. Even if it's only for five minutes. I already lost Sensei and Obito to death. I don't want to lose you to neglect."

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	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note: A quick clarification of the money. According to Naruto Wikia, 1 ryo (the currency in the anime) equals 10 yen and, according to current exchange rates, 100 yen equals 1 dollar. Ergo, 10 ryo equals 1 dollar. Since Wikia also claims that you get 5,000 ryo for a D-rank mission, I'll assume that Konoha has a very healthy economy and ninja are paid very well. **_

_**Also, don't worry that I'll spend too much time on Kakashi raising Naruto. I plan to cover that in broad strokes, with a small emphasis in the first month of adoption since that's when he'll be doing most of the adjustment. About the updates: I'm sorry that they're done on a weekly basis, but I have a lot of things occupying my time in the summer, like SAT tutoring, my internship, and my summer program. I'm really, **_**really** _**busy and honestly, this is pretty low on my list of responsibilities. **_

Chapter Four

Yoshino visited him two days later, this time without her son in tow. This visit was much more brief, but also much less pleasant. She had come to invite (i.e. threaten) him to her home for dinner. Kakashi instantaneously refused of course, but then she asked him what he had been having for dinner the last few days. The truthful answer- takeout- hadn't impressed her one bit. Although why she would assume a fourteen-year-old boy knew how to cook full-course meals was beyond him. Sure, he knew a few simple recipes that Kushina-nee battered into his head, but those got old quickly, and Kakashi felt no qualms about resorting to restaurant food. After all, it's not like he would feed Naruto the unhealthy junk.

The Nara woman was persistent though, most likely drawing on experience from nagging her husband, and Kakashi finally relented when her eyes began to flicker in the direction of his frying pan.

When she left, satisfied with her act of coercion, he simply sighed and went back to his work. Despite taking his week-long break from ANBU, Kakashi was swamped. It was a common misconception that the time of death and the subsequent funeral were the most difficult parts of mourning. It wasn't those moments though, since most people passed them in a sort of numb disbelief, but the times following the death, as the survivors tried to piece their lives back together.

Sensei and Kushina-nee's wills had both been executed, in secrecy, by the Hokage. As Kakashi had expected, he had been left a sizable inheritance from both legendary ninja, though the lion's share had been put into a trust for Naruto. Several other ninja had also received bequests, such as Rin, Jiraiya, Shizune, the Sandaime, and Tsunade. He had gained a few non-monetary items too, like Kushina-nee's tanto and sealing supplies and Sensei's old Chuunin vest and elemental manipulation scrolls, all of which he had placed away in a guest room.

Both of his adopted parent figures had been quite wealthy, with shares in multiple businesses to provide steady passive income, and the merchants who knew that the wills had been executed wanted to know who had received them. Many other Council figures, vultures that they were, also demanded to know where most of the money went. The Sandaime had replied that it went to Sensei's child, which wasn't a lie, but those members assumed that he meant Kakashi, and suddenly plied him with requests for additional funding or business opportunities. This was compounded with the Hatake investments, which Kakashi hadn't even looked at since his father's death due to Sensei handling them for him. He was gratified to see that Sensei used his brilliance to grow the investments, but now had to take a crash course in being a financial manager.

The silver-haired teen had been rather reluctant to take up this mantle, and instead wanted to pass it on to the Sandaime or just let it continue in the manner to which it was designed. However, the thought of Naruto losing even a ryo of her inheritance to those money-grubbing assholes, had him purchase the books necessary for investment and estate management and start to study.

He also had to deal with many of the other facets of surviving. Kakashi had already set up Naruto's birth certificate and health insurance, but didn't have the time to update his will (everything to Naruto) or change his life insurance (again, everything to Naruto). He also had to list alternate guardians lest some jackass decide to take his sister as a ward in order to gain access to her fortune. And even should Naruto be placed with another guardian, his will had to stipulate certain conditions, such as an inability to arrange betrothals or broker business deals on her behalf.

Then there was the issue of family techniques. Most Clans had two ways of dealing with this. Some Clans, like the Uchiha, passed down their skills orally, which was smart since there were a lot of Uchiha. Other Clans, like the Kurama, wrote down most of their main techniques and willed them to their children, which was also smart since there were few Kurama left. Kakashi, being the last blood Hatake and with only one adopted child who would have to take on her mother's name later on, chose the latter. He had the advantage of summons though, which provided quite the safety net since he could just write down his clan techniques and his own original two moves and ask Pakkun to keep them safe for Naruto in the Summon Dimension.

He was 95% positive that this was what Sensei, Kushina-nee, Tsunade-san and Jiraiya-san did too since they were either the last members of their Clans or came from civilian stock. This was compounded when one of the items he was willed to by Kushina was her famous sparrow contract. It came along with a blood-sealed note with direct orders not to open until Naruto began the Academy, so Kakashi put it aside and tried not to cry at the reminder of her death.

So despite being on a quasi-maternity leave, Kakashi was busy with sealing studies, financial management, and taking care of Naruto. He had to add self-directed cooking lessons on top of that, since Naruto wouldn't remain a midget forever and Yoshino would undoubtedly use the excuse to drag him over to dinner as often as she could. Honestly, the woman meant well but Kakashi hated it when anyone (other than Kushina-nee) tried to baby him. He was ANBU, dammit!

The Hatake had been thoroughly involved in deconstructing a resistance seal when Pakkun broke through his thoughts.

"Yo Kakashi," the brown pug announced, "It's an hour til dinner. You wanna feed Naruto before you go to the Nara woman's house?"

The teen looked up, blinking a little quickly as his eyes adjusted from staring at the tiny characters for so long. His mind caught up to him, and he leaned back, arms rising in the hair as he felt a sharp, satisfying crack in his back.

"Yeah, that'll probably be best," Kakashi mused, standing up and forming his now common Kage Bunshin seal. Another Kakashi popped up next to him, Henged himself, and then went to the market to buy a proper house gift. The real Kakashi grimaced as a little over half his chakra left him- the teen could manage a total of two Kage Bushin before exhaustion set in- and then went to the cupboard to make Naruto's formula. Inside of the milk was the liquid iron supplement Rin gave him, along with a small dissolving nutri-tab, a herbal tablet his grandfather had made to boost nutrition, particularly calcium and protein, in a child's body.

When the milk was sufficiently warm, he tested it by squeezing a few droplets on his bared wrist. Once Kakashi had been assured that it wouldn't burn Naruto's tongue, he left the kitchen (after offering Pakkun a bone and sending him away) and walked up to his room. Idly, the genius reminded himself of the need to prepare a nursery for the girl, along with an additional two playpens so he could have one downstairs and one out in the training grounds along with the one he currently kept in the kitchen. It was a little excessive, but he had the money and didn't really want to pull a playpen with him everywhere he went.

The young Hatake wrinkled his nose as he walked into the room. The unpleasant smell picked up by his sensitive nose could be easily traced back to the occupant of a high-quality black walnut crib. Kakashi instantly sent chakra to his nose, though it was to block rather than enhance his sense of smell, and picked up the materials necessary to change Naruto's diaper. This was one of the worst parts of raising a child, in Kakashi's opinion, along with nuisances such as finding trustworthy babysitters and having them actually grow up.

Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your point of view, Kakashi had enough practice with diaper changing to quickly clean his little sister up and whisk her clothes away. He chose yet another onesie to change her into, an adorable pastel yellow one with a big, cartoon ladybug at the center. He was tucking her feet into matching socks when Naruto suddenly opened her mouth and started wailing.

Generally, his sister was a very mild baby, who rarely cried and usually drank her meals with gusto. Every now and then though, Kakashi found that the redhead started crying for no reason. He dealt with these occasions in the same manner as Kushina-nee, by picking her up, sitting down in the rocker, and starting to rock her.

When, after five minutes, Naruto had yet to silence, Kakashi became alarmed. He quickly summoned Pakkun for help.

"I take it the pup won't stop crying?" the pug asked dryly, once the puff of smoke that signaled his arrival dispersed and he had some time to take in the situation.

"I don't know what to do," Kakashi confessed, "She usually quiets down well enough if I use the rocking chair, but it's not working this time."

"Does her diaper need changing?" Pakkun asked.

"No, I just changed it," Kakashi replied, shifting his right arm from out under the baby and offering her the bottle. "She's not drinking her milk either!"

"Calm down," the dog advised, "Look, what did Kushina do when the baby was feeling restless?"

"She yelled at Sensei to stop patting her stomach."

Pakkun sweat dropped. "Right… is there anything else she did?"

Kakashi considered it. "Well, she did sing her a few lullabies," he offered, hesitantly.

"And do you know any lullabies?" Pakkun asked, internally giving that up as a way to console Naruto.

Kakashi brightened. "I don't know the full lyrics, but Kushina-nee sang it often enough for me to remember some of it. Naruto was a pretty restless baby."

Pakkun stared at the Hatake like he'd never seen him before. "_You're _going to sing her a lullaby?"

Kakashi began to look offended, as he often did when someone questioned his competence with raising Naruto, but before he could begin to tell Pakkun off, the dog raised his paws in a placating gesture.

"Sorry, sorry, not what I meant to say. Please go on."

Still a little miffed, Kakashi leaned against the rocking chair and moved Naruto until she was pressed vertically against his chest. He didn't have to move his face mask away, since he rarely wore it at home. After a few seconds recollection, Kakashi began.

"_**A river sweeps through our blood**_

_**And the beating hearts of men**_

_**Oh do not cry, my Whirlpool Child**_

_**We will rise again**_

_**A Clansman has sounded the alarms**_

_**And enemies line our gate**_

_**Our allies repressed and enemies blessed**_

_**Yet we won't fall to Fate**_

_**We will keep our city in splendor!**_

_**Defend it with our brave men**_

_**Oh do not cry, my Whirlpool child**_

_**We will rise again**_

_**Each ready brush is pressed to ink**_

_**Each blade to be whet in blood**_

_**Starbursts of chakra lit against the sea**_

_**To drown our enemies within the flood **_

_**The Keeper's bell has been rung**_

_**And the streets are littered with children**_

_**Oh do not cry, my Whirlpool child**_

_**We will rise again**_

_**For even as Death approaches our shores**_

_**Even as our walls crumble against their slaught**_

_**We send our survivors into the Whirlpools and-**_

_**Pray that they will not be caught**_

_**Our warrior's souls have been put to rest**_

_**Our seals will one day mend**_

_**Oh do not cry, my Whirlpool child**_

_**We will rise again..."**_

By the time, Kakashi's pleasantly low timber had faded with the last word, Naruto had been silenced. The Hatake smiled down at the girl, who was staring up at him with wide, fascinated violet eyes.

Pakkun shook his head to clear it of the lull Kakashi had inadvertently placed on him. "You call that a lullaby?"

"Well to be fair, Kushina-nee had come from a ninja clan…"

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The dinner at the Nara Compound was not nearly as terrible as Kakashi had believed it to be. Yoshino had set up a playpen for the babies, and Naruto had spent her entire trip proffered up against a huge plushy in the shape of a deer. Shikamaru, who was now old enough to be sitting on his own power, also lied against a pillow and alternated between staring at Naruto and staring at the ceiling. Kakashi had been worried about that at first, before deciding that the Nara was too lazy to get up to anything compromising and allowed himself to be drawn into a conversation about ANBU with Shikaku. The meal was very good, and after they were done, the three adult adjoined to the living room with sake and dessert. Not the biggest fan of alcohol, Kakashi accepted a single cup of watered down sake and a slice of chocolate cake.

In the end, Kakashi found that he had actually enjoyed himself, thus allowing the Nara matriarch to wrangle another invitation acceptance for a later date. Shikaku merely stood by, amused.

The next few days passed by rather tamely. Kakashi studied, cooked, trained, and studied some more, until it was finally time for him to return back to work. He was fairly relieved. Although he loved taking care of Naruto- and indeed, nothing could please him more- a teenager needed some variety in his life. He sent a message to Rin to ask for some babysitting help, and was even more pleased when she replied with an affirmative. The Hatake hadn't looked forward to relying on a genin team he didn't have time to thoroughly vet first.

It didn't mean that he didn't have any concerns about leaving Naruto though.

"I've already warmed her milk and put it in a stasis seal, so don't make her another bottle!" Kakashi ordered, "She's too young to take full baths, so use her washcloth- the one with the little ducks on it- and moisten it with slightly warm water. Not too warm, or else it might burn her! Make sure to burp her after dinner- or else, she'll do a spit take. You'll probably forget, so I prepared some extra clothes for you to change her to. I'm also leaving Pakkun here to keep an eye on you, and a contact seal that you could use to call me in case of an emergency. Don't forget!"

"I won't, I won't," Rin soothed, looking around with some shock at the domestic look of the house. Naruto's things were _everywhere, _and Kakashi looked adorably ridiculous half-dressed in his shinobi gear with a infant onesie in one hand and a kunai in the other.

Naruto seemed to share her humor, as the baby looked up and gave her a toothless, gummy smile. Rin just melted at the sheer cuteness of it.

"Yoshino Nara lives a few blocks away," Kakashi added, distractedly as he clipped his weapon's pouch to his shinobi trousers, "Pakkun knows the way there, so you can send him if you need any help. Any questions?"

"When will you be back?"

"This is just a simple briefing, so I can make it back by nighttime," Kakashi assured her, "Most of my missions will be limited to a day or two at most from now on, and I'll probably leave her with Yoshino during those times. The shorter ones, that take only a few hours, will be given to a genin team or you, if you have the time."

Rin nodded. "In that case, good luck."

Kakashi only took another minute or two to finish, but lingered for a few moments longer as he worriedly hovered over his ward. Well used to Kakashi's paranoia, Rin merely rolled her eyes and pushed the Hatake out the door. When she was sure that he'd left, she turned and smiled down at her temporary charge.

"Hello Naruto," she cooed, "Your nii-san had to go out on a mission. I guess it's just you and me, right now. Won't that be fun? We're going to have a girl's night of our own."

Naruto gurgled happily.

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The ANBU were not gossipers, per se, and would most likely take great offense if one implied that they were. Regardless, when an up-and-coming legend in ANBU takes two weeks off from work, and the covert file claims 'maternity leave' of all reasons (because it had to be a prescribed reason, and infant adoption had never really been established), they couldn't help but talk. It wasn't just the adoption that was so surprising, though, really, ANBU didn't _adopt_, not when they could be on call for missions 24/7, but because it was Kakashi. The Copycat Nin, Sharingan Kakashi, the Shinobi Who Mastered 1,000 Jutsus, didn't just go and adopt children. It just wasn't done.

So when Kakashi entered the hallowed halls of the Ansatsu Senjutsu Tokushu Butai, they gossipped.

"That's him- Inu-san!"

"He looks awfully young to be a father."

"He looked too young to be an ANBU too, didn't he?"

"Who was crazy enough to give him a kid? Much less a newborn."

"It's disgusting, that's what it is. The Kyuubi attacks, cutting down half our manpower, and instead of helping the Corps. he goes and plays Daddy…"

"Better adopted than put into an orphanage. They're filled to the brim now-"

"-gone off the deep end, you think? Shame, he was always so-"

"Yondaime… sensei… no, I think it's a survival mechanism-"

"-not a pansy… taichou could take you any day, you jackass-"

With practiced ease coming from the son of the man who accidentally started a war, Kakashi ignored the whispers while taking mental note of who said what. He wasn't surprised that Pig would be one of his biggest detractors- the man had never gotten over the shame of getting his ass kicked by a boy half his age- or that Yamato would vigorously defend him. Still, the Hatake kept an impassive, outwardly lazy face on and walked into the room of the Head of ANBU Forces.

"Kakashi Hatake," Falcon spoke softly, but his voice was one such that it was never ignored even in the din of noise, "I take it you are here to hand in a notice?"

The tenager barely supressed the surprise his face showed. "Hai, I believe that I should return to being a regular ANBU. I have too many responsibilities to be an ANBU Captain at the same time."

The masked man gracefully picked up a slender file and flitted through a few pages. "Your new adopted daughter…?"

"Hai."

"She's remarkably small for her age," Falcon said, mildly, "And those Clan features are odd too- who did you say her parents were?"

"I didn't." If anything, Kakashi stiffened further.

"Hmm," Falcon continued to stare at the small picture, "She reminds me of my taichou- Kushina. You should remember her. I believe she was in a relationship with your own taichou?"

Kakashi didn't say anything. Falcon stayed silent as well.

"Your request is granted," Falcon finally said, putting the file down, "Welcome back, Dog-san."

"Thank you."

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	5. Chapter 5

_**Author's Note: As you can see, I've changed the pairing in the story from ShinoNaru to ShikaNaru, mainly because the other Naruto story I'd been planning that had ShikaNaru as a pairing flopped. It shouldn't have a significant change in the direction of the story, since the relationship plays a minor part until the sequel (if I ever get to a sequel). **_

Chapter Five

Surprisingly enough, Naruto was pretty well-known within Konoha. Despite being an adopted child of a minor clan, she gained interest because of just _who _had adopted her. ANBU Kakashi Hatake was a rising star in the shinobi corps., gaining attention for his genius, his dedication to Konoha, and his youth. The mysterious aura he gave off because of his half-mask garnered a lot of female interest, as did his doting of Naruto, which every woman would agree showed excellent father skills.

The leaders of Konoha were no less interested in the small family, though they were mainly impressed by how much attention Kakashi was focusing on his sealing studies. A fuuinjutsu Master gained a lot of respect, especially in Konoha, and while he may not be another Yellow Flash, no one could deny that his sealing had improved by leaps and bounds. Kakashi was approaching fifteen years of age, and had nearly reached Journeyman status in fuuinjutsu, just two levels away from Master (Jiraiya and Minato) and one level away from Exceptional (the Hokage and the Head of the Barrier Corps.). His skills with sealing earned him much leeway when it came to missions (as if anyone would be stupid enough to send a non-S ranked sealing prodigy away from the safety of Konoha for a long-term mission).

Almost every one of Kakashi's meager list of friends (Rin, occasionally Gai, and his apprentice, Tenzo) and Rin's more extensive list (most of the elite Chuunin and Jounin of their generation) had been introduced to Naruto. The baby had also been introduced to Yoshino's friends: Tsume Inuzuka, Chiruki Akimichi, and Minori Yamanaka. They were happy to babysit her from time to time, which was a relief to Kakashi since he apparently wasn't allowed to reserve the appropriately protective Iruka kid and his genin team indefinitely, regardless of the amount of money offered.

Still, as time passed, Kakashi fell into a comfortable routine raising his young daughter. There were (more than) a few hiccups along the way, but Naruto grew up as a happy, healthy, and friendly girl.

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"I refuse to believe that this is a legitimate shampoo," Kakashi said, flatly, looking at the neon pink bottle with well-practiced suspicion. Besides him, Rin, still wearing the doctor's coat she went to work with, sighed. Her dark brown hair had grown down to her shoulder blades, and was pulled up in a messy bun.

"Why didn't you say that when _we went shopping_ for her then?" she griped.

Kakashi sniffed. "I was picking out her new pajamas. _You_ were supposed to buy the damned shampoo."

"This is a top-quality brand!"

"It smells disgusting!"

"It smells like strawberries dammit- read the label!"

"I did read the label! Who makes a baby shampoo smell so strong, anyway? It'll irritate Naru-chan's nose."

"Not everyone has an Inuzuka's nose Kakashi…" The two teammates glared at each other, before the nearly unclothed child in Rin's arms moved.

"Tu-uhn?" Naruto babbled, looking up with curious violet eyes, "Paaaa-tuuuu!"

"Sorry Naru-chan, but Pakkun can't play with you right now," Kakashi replied, gently ruffling the girl's thicker red hair. She giggled, making Rin smile as well.

"You must be cold. Poor Naruto, and your tou-san and I didn't even notice," Rin said, hugging the baby more tightly to pass on her body heat. Naruto squirmed a little, but didn't vocalise any protest.

"Nii-ah-tu?" she asked.

"Na-ru-to," Kakashi carefully enunciated the name, looking critically at the shampoo again. He glanced over at Rin. "If we dilute it with some water, we can use it, I guess…?"

"I'll pick up some of the scentless shampoos after work tomorrow," Rin promised, accepting the offered bottle. "Now, Naru-chan, it's time for your bath!"

"Bah?"

xxxxxxx

"Say tou-chan Naru," Kakashi encouraged, looking eagerly at the baby, "It's easy! Tou-chan. Tou-chan. Tou-chan. See? Repeat after Daddy."

Naruto looked up blankly. Her face was thoroughly bored as she gummed over her pacifier.

Kakashi would not be deterred. "Tooouuuuu-chaaaaan," he said, slowly, "That's Daddy's name, Naru. You're a smart girl. You can repeat it, right?"

"Paa-ku?" Naruto asked, hopefully.

"I'll call Pakkun for you later, sweetie, but we need to practice now," Kakashi scolded, "Now please try, for Daddy? Say tou-chan!"

"To-chi?" the girl tried.

Kakashi nodded. "That's better, Naru, but we still haven't gotten it yet. Try again. Tou-chan."

"To-chi," Naruto repeated, stubbornly.

"Tou-chan?" the Hatake asked, pleadingly.

"To-chi."

"I suppose we'll have to try again later," Kakashi sighed as he heard the doorbell ring. With some reluctance, he went and opened it up so Gai could enter.

"Hello to you, my Eternal Rival!" the taijutsu master's teeth gleamed in the dull hallway, "I have come to tell you of the most youthful mission we will be taking together? And where is the young Blossom of Konoha, so that I may wish her a good day?"

"In the dining room," Kakashi replied, turning and allowing the odd man entry. Despite Gai's… eccentricities, Kakashi trusted him completely, and wasn't worried about letting him spend time alone with Naruto. Though not _too much _time, since Naruto was an impressionable baby and the green spandex onesie Gai had put her in once still gave Kakashi nightmares.

He went to get his Chuunin vest since this wasn't an ANBU mission, keeping one ear focused on the room his daughter was in.

"Good morning, my beautiful Naru-hime!" Gai's voice was loud enough that Kakashi could forego his usual sense enhancement. "And how was your day with your father?"

"Tou-chan!" Naruto squealed, delightedly.

"Haha, that is correct, my young Blossom! You have indeed spent the day with your most hip paternal figure," Gai praised, as the Hatake suddenly stilled. A second later, he stood in the doorway of the dining room. The spandex wearing man noticed him, and looked up with a cheerful grin. His smile faded when he saw the pissed-off look on the normally apathetic man. Small sparks of lightning chakra were forming in his hand.

"That term of endearment should have been spoken to me first, Gai," Kakashi said softly, dangerously, as the loud chirping of a thousand birds filled the room, "Now, prepare to DIE!"

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"Rin, can you go get Naruto?" Out of the two, Kakashi had become the better cook, especially once Yoshino took it upon herself to teach the young shinobi some of her favorite recipes. His teammate had been quick to take advantage of that skill.

"No problem." Technically, Rin had a home of her own, but other than sleeping in it, she rarely spent any time there. Even her home office was a refurbished bedroom at the Hatake residence.

The young woman was still curious about Naruto's background and had a number of theories to that effect. The most likely one was that Kakashi had an affair that he refused to speak about. The least likely was that her sensei had actually convinced that Uzumaki woman to sleep with him. Her favorite one involved Obito's resurrection, a surrogate mother, and a blood adoption, though Rin was careful to keep that one to herself. Regardless, the medic nin adored the cheerful little redhead, and was happy to help her teammate raise the girl. Naruto brought some sunlight and innocence back into Kakashi's life.

When she walked into the living room where Naruto's playpen had been stationed, Rin paused, stunned. The light blue blanket was rumpled, several toys were strewn about, and Naruto's favorite stuffed animal- a brown puppy that she had gleefully named Pakku-chan- had fell onto the ground. And Naruto was most definitely not in her playpen.

"Kakashi!" Rin shouted, "KAKASHI!"

The teenaged ANBU burst into the room at Rin's scream, one hand holding a kitchen knife aloft, as both of his eyes scanned the room.

"Kakashi, she's walking!" Rin said, grinning madly as she gestured towards the couch. Naruto was hanging on to the edge, lips down in concentration, as she struggled to stay balanced on her pudgy toddler legs. She had managed to stand up under her own power on several occasions, but this was the first time she had ever moved from where they had settled her. Kakashi instantly knelt down on the floor, knife placed down and arm reaching towards his daughter.

"That's it, Naru-chan!" he said, ecstatically, "You're walking! Come here, Naruto, come to Daddy!"

The redhead's head turned towards the voice, pink lips parting instantly in a smile that revealed her sharp, pointed incisors. She raised one of her own arms to wave at her Daddy, but seemed indecisive as to whether she should try moving and possibly fall.

"You can do it, Naru-chan," Kakashi murmured, encouragingly, "It's okay, sweetheart. Just give it a try. I believe in you."

Rin stepped back, her smile becoming softer as she grabbed the video camera that was placed neatly in the hallway closet. She stepped out of the way and started recording the moment.

"Da-da?" Naruto questioned, looking warily between her father and the empty space between them.

Kakashi smiled. "Yes, Naru-chan?"

"Pick me?" Naruto asked, looking at her father hopefully. The man merely shook his head and continued to kneel on the floor patiently. Once, Naruto realized that her father would not be moving any closer, she pouted.

"Da-da," the toddler announced determinedly, still holding onto the couch as she stepped forward. When she didn't fall, Naruto gave a victorious little grin and took another cautious step, letting go of the couch in the process. She slowly stumbled her way into Kakashi's arms, the last few steps making her lose her balance and nearly fall onto her father.

"You did it, Naruto!" Kakashi shouted proudly, easily catching the girl and lifting her up into the air. Naruto squealed happily as her father flew her through the air.

"That's my girl!"

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"Are you going to read me a bedtime story today, tou-chan?" At three-and-a-half years of age, Naruto's vocabulary was remarkable. Of course, since most of the people she spoke to were either adult shinobi or a few clan-born toddlers, that was to be expected.

"Did you brush your teeth?" Kakashi asked absently, putting away the ANBU report he had written up.

"Yep!" Naruto replied, "And I changed to my pajamas too!" She twirled around on her feet to show the short-sleeved orange shirt and black hakama-style pants.

"Alright then," Kakashi scooped her up and used a small burst of chakra to bypass the stairs and jump up to the second floor. Naruto clung to his shirt, laughing. Despite the many times her tou-chan had done this, she had yet to get tired of the trick.

Naruto had only recently moved to a room of her own, and was quite proud of that fact. It was painted to show different scenes around Konoha by Rin. One wall held the Hokage mountain, another the village market, and the last two a combination of Konoha's forests. A western child's bed made for children had been bought for her, with a pretty yellow and orange starburst pattern on the headboard. The curtains and bedspread had a similar starburst pattern, though the colors were darker. There was a large wooden chest at the foot of the bed with Naruto's toys inside, and a dresser at the side with all of her clothing. The closet held more of her clothing, and a small cubby shape where she could keep her sandals. A sign on the doorway, written in a child's sloppy hiragana, said 'Naruto's Room'.

"What do you want to read tonight?" Kakashi asked, "How about the story of Momotaro, the boy found in the pit of a peach?"

"Rin told me that story last night," Naruto replied, energetically, "I want to listen to the story of Akira-hime and Tsuki-kun! Start from Chapter Four, tou-chan."

"If that's what you want," Kakashi agreed, indulgently, taking out a frayed, orange-coloured book, "'_It was a dark night when the beautiful, buxom Akira-hime snuck out of the castle to meet her beloved moon spirit. The forbidden romance and the chilly winds sent an unbidden thrill through her body, causing her large, pale mounds to shake gloriously. Her windswept raven hair lay against the fair swell of her breasts-"_

"_Ka-ka-shi_," a female voice hissed, causing the young man to look towards the door with a surprised, concerned look in his masked eye. He saw his teammate Rin standing there, shaking in fury.

"Rin-neechan!" Naruto greeted merrily, not noticing her tou-chan stiffen in fear.

"Hello Naru-chan," Rin smiled grimly, and pushed her sleeves up her arms, "We'll have to talk later. I need to kill your father now."

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Naruto giggled to herself delightedly as she snuck down the stairs with all of the shinobi stealth that she could muster. It was an impressive display from any child, and far more impressive from someone as naturally energetic and loud as her, but not silent enough. Or at least that was what Naruto found when she saw her nee-chan waiting for her at the foot of the stairs.

"Good morning, Naruto," the brunette smirked as the blonde's face fell into a pout, "What are you doing in this early hour?"

"It's tou-chan's birthday!" Naruto bounced back from her setback with even more enthusiasm, "I'm going to make him breakfast."

"Are you now?" Rin's lips quirked upwards, "And are you allowed to be in the kitchen without your father's supervision?"

Naruto looked down at the floor, somewhat embarrassed to have forgotten this important tidbit.

"I don't think he would mind," she ventured, scuffing the wooden floorboard with one toe. Rin frowned.

"But you won't know for sure, will you?" the older woman countered gently, "The kitchen is a dangerous place, Naru-chan, and your father will be _very _disappointed if you get hurt, won't he?"

"I guess so," Naruto admitted grudgingly.

Suddenly Rin's face changed from a frown to a happy smile. "Luckily for you, I'm an adult and I can help!" she chirped. Naruto looked up at that and shot her an equally happy grin.

"Thanks nee-chan!" Naruto said, sincerely, "Can we make pancakes and eggs and bacon? Tou-chan likes western breakfasts."

"Yes, and we'll make the best breakfast Kakashi will ever taste," Rin declared, giggling with the younger girl. "Kitchen, here we come!"

When Kakashi woke up an hour later, he stumbled downstairs to find that his kitchen was a mess. Eggs and flour stained the countertops, while a whole mess of pancake batter had fallen on the floor. There was also a puddle of orange juice leaking from a fallen cup on the table. In the middle of this mess was a sheepish Rin and an excited Naruto, who was possibly smeared with as much food as the other areas put together.

On a lone plate were two pieces of burned bread covered with jam and some soggy looking eggs. It was more than a little pitiful.

Kakashi picked up the cup that was next to the plate and took a long drink.

"Well, at least you didn't mess up the tea," he sighed.

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"Tou-chan, why don't you always stay home like Auntie Yoshino?" the four-year-old was an inquisitive little thing. Her colt-like limbs were scattered with scrapes in various stages of healing from her grand adventures within the Hatake land. Next to her was the floppy eared Shinrai, a newborn pup from Kakashi's pack that had become Naruto's constant companion.

The grey-and-white pup was the son of Shiba and an Inuzuka dog that he had gained an interest in. The rest of Shinrei's littermates belonged to the Inuzuka, but Tsume had been kind enough to give Kakashi one of the pups for his daughter. The duo wouldn't have a partner relationship like the Inuzuka had with their pups; instead Shinrei would serve as Naruto's personal summon from Kakashi's group of ninken. He had decided not to have Naruto sign the contract, since it might interfere with her possible contracts with the Toads or the Sparrows. He didn't know how Kushina-nee's summons would react to Naruto, but the Toads were definitely interested in fighting alongside Minato's daughter.

"I have a job Naruto, like you nee-chan and Uncle Shikaku," Kakashi explained.

He had been sitting under an oak tree in the backyard, practicing a lightning elemental chakra control exercise, while Naruto drew. The Hatake hadn't thought that he would master his chakra affinity to such a degree. Indeed, Obito's eye had made it relatively simple to learn new lightning jutsus to an acceptable level, though he rarely mastered them.

He may have just gone along, using this crutch for years, but becoming a parent seemed to have struck a chord in his paranoia. He couldn't afford to coast along as he had before, merely remaining an elite A-ranked shinobi. Kakashi had to become stronger, faster, _deadlier… _so his enemies knew that striking out against Naruto would cause such a rain of devastation upon them that it would _never_ be worth it.

Progress was a little frustrating at times, but he was definitely improving. His ninjutsu had never been stronger, his taijutsu was becoming more free-flowing and instinctive by the day, and he had even branched a little into B and A-ranked genjutsu. His fuuinjutsu knowledge put him firmly in the fourth best position in the village, after seal masters such as Councilman Homura and the Sannin Jiraiya and Exceptional Users such as the Hokage.

It also made Kakashi twenty times more valuable than he would have been as an elite jounin- seal masters were difficult to train and were necessary to keep the village running in top-shape. Over half his missions nowadays involved keeping Konoha's seal infrastructure up-and-running, since they relied on seals for everything from running water to electric distribution to early-warning barriers. Having someone help monitor and repair the seals had been a relief to Homura, who mainly dealt with the issues and was being run ragged for the last few years. The Councilman had not been idle with his newfound free time. Each ANBU member who went on an S-ranked mission received pre-made packs with everything from communication to medical seals, which cut down on fatality rates drastically and increased mission success. Homura had also been experimenting with new types of communication seals to enable mental conversations that mimic one of the Yamanaka's most tricky techniques, with the help of Inoichi.

Kakashi had been astounded and more than a little worried to see how badly Konoha was suffering from a lack of seal masters. Sensei and nee-chan's success had patched up the problem for a time, but after they died, no one was able to step up and fill their shoes. In a non-combat capability, Kakashi had been able to cover some of the problems, though many more seal masters would have to be trained for the future. He didn't even want to think about how badly it could have gotten had he abandoned learning fuuinjutsu like he had planned before. Konoha's early warning barrier system had fallen to disrepair for Kami's sake! An invasion team could waltz right up to the village, with none the wiser, had it not been fixed.

"What's your job?" Naruto persisted, abandoning her color pencils in favor of bounding up to her father. Kakashi smiled, placed away his sealing supplies, and drew her into his lap.

He hummed, trying to think of a way to explain his assassination and fuuinjutsu work.

"Well, I'm a ninja," he finally settled on. "My job is to protect the village."

Naruto's blue-violet eyes grew wide. "Like Uncle Shikaku?"

"Yep, in fact Uncle Shikaku's kind of like my boss," Kakashi gave a happy little eye-smile, "He's the Jounin Commander and since I finished by ANBU stint a little while ago, I'm a regular Jounin now."

"Are you strong?" Naruto asked.

"I'd like to think so," Kakashi replied, "I need to be to fight the bad guys."

"Wow, so you're like some kind of superhero!" Naruto realized, excitedly.

"You could say that. I need to leave the village for long periods of time so I can make sure that no one's going to hurt my Naru-chan."

"But, aren't the bad guys dangerous?" Naruto said, worriedly biting her lip.

"Ah, but I'm strong and no bad guy could ever beat me!" Kakashi made a ridiculous pose, copying Gai and making Naruto giggle.

"Don't be silly, tou-chan!" she chided, "Why do you need to be a ninja though? Don't we have enough money?"

"We have lots of money, Naru-chan," Kakashi answered, "But Konoha needs my help, and I want to protect my home and my precious people. That's why I'm a ninja."

"Who protects you?" Naruto's mouth tugged down into a little frown.

"Maa, maa, don't worry," Kakashi laughed, "My precious comrades protect me."

"Then, I'm going to be one of your precious comrades too, tou-chan," Naruto declared, "I'm going to be a ninja, and I'll protect you from all the bad guys, dattebayo!"

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"Tou-chan, can I ask you something?" Naruto looked uncharacteristically nervous, as Kakashi helped her slip into bed and tucked the covers around her.

"You can ask me whatever you like Naruto," Kakashi said, earnestly, "I can't always tell you the truth, but I promise I won't lie to you either."

Naruto hesitated. "Ano… tou-chan, do I have a kaa-san? Like Shika-kun has Auntie Yoshino?"

The silver-haired man stilled, and said nothing for a few moments. When her father stayed silent for a whole minute, Naruto began to fidget a little and look very uncomfortable.

"It's okay if you don't want to say anything…" she drew off.

Kakashi shook his head. "No… you deserve to know." He abruptly stood up, causing Naruto to grow even more confused as he walked over to her closet in two long strides. Kakashi plucked a small jewelry box from the top shelf, one that Naruto could never reach, and walked back to the bed. He soundlessly offered her the box.

Naruto took the small chest with anxious hands and stared at it. It was clearly expensive. The wood was dark and smooth and unfamiliar to her eyes. Images were inscribed all over the top of waves and fish and sparrows. Naruto thought she imagined the scent of the salty ocean stinging against her nose, but she couldn't be sure. Unsure, she reached out to grab a golden coloured clasp that held the box closed and flipped it open.

The inside of the box was full of pictures. A happily gurgling red-haired baby, gave way to a cheerful toddler of the same hair colour, to a smiling young girl, to a beautiful, laughing woman standing beside a handsome, blonde man. She stared at the pictures, drinking in the same blue-violet eyes, the same red shade of hair- except her hair had tips of yellow like tendrils of fire- the same nose, the same smile…

She looked over at her father. Kakashi's head was hanging down, and he was avoiding her eyes.

"Tou-chan, who is this?" she asked.

Kakashi still didn't look at her. "That's your mother, Kushina Uzumaki. ...Next to her is your Father, Minato Namikaze." He could only be grateful that Rin was in her apartment tonight.

Naruto drew in a sharp breath. "B-but, y-you're my tou-chan!" she stumbled out.

Kakashi smiled bitterly. "I'm sorry Naru-chan, but you were adopted. I'm not your birth father."

Her eyes returned to the photos. "What happened to them?" she whispered.

"They died in the Kyuubi attack," Kakashi answered, shocked when Naruto suddenly tossed away the photos and threw her body at him in a desperate hug. Tears were welling up in her eyes.

"D-did they l-love me?" she hiccuped, as tears ran down her face.

Kakashi's heart clenched. "More than anything else in the world," he answered honestly.

Naruto's next question surprised him. "Do you love me?"

"Yes," he said softly, one hand rubbing against her back comfortingly, "You're _my_ entire world."

"Did you know them?" she asked.

"Your father was my sensei," Kakashi said, "He adopted me after my own Father died. I got to know your mother after they began to date. She was like an adopted mother to me. My own mother died the day after I was born."

Naruto clenched him tighter. "So, we're still family?" she stated.

"Y-yes, I guess we are," Kakashi said, pleased, "I'm your nii-san-"

"Tou-chan," Naruto scowled, "You're my tou-chan. I don't need a nii-san."

Kakashi stared at the determined little girl. It broke his heart but he could not- _would_ not- take Minato's rightful place as her father.

"Sweetheart, Minato was your tou-chan-" he said, carefully.

"He's my otou-san," Naruto said, forcefully, "You're my tou-chan. I have two Daddies."

Kakashi blinked. Then he laughed, a little hysterical. "Okay, Naru-chan. You have two fathers. But you cannot- and this is a rule, sweetheart- _cannot_ tell anyone who your otou-san and kaa-chan are. Not even Rin. Okay?"

Naruto looked at the dark grey and red eye that her father stared at her with and hesitantly nodded. She knew when he was being serious.

"But why not?" she asked, "I thought they loved me. Wouldn't they be happy if I told everyone?"

"They did love you, Naru-chan," Kakashi said, firmly, "That's why you can't tell anyone. Your otou-san was one of the strongest ninja alive. He had lots of enemies, and we don't want them to know that you're alive, right?"

"You're a strong ninja, and you have lots of enemies," Naruto pointed out, logically. Her eyes were still red and her throat was somewhat scratchy, but she could think through the issue just fine.

"Your otou-san was an even stronger ninja than I am," Kakashi said, smiling at the way Naruto's eyes grew wide.

A ninja even stronger than her tou-chan? Naruto couldn't believe that someone like that existed!

"Was he as strong as the Hokage?" Naruto asked, referring to the old man in the red and white robes she had met once. Everyone said that he was strong, and she liked him since he gave her candy to draw her away from her tou-chan's leg and called her a smart little girl.

Kakashi laughed. "He was a Hokage too, Naru-chan. Remember the story of the Yondaime?"

Naruto's mouth dropped open. "The Yondaime?" she asked, excitedly, "No way! That's my favorite story!" Like many children in the village, Naruto loved her picture books with the story of the Yondaime battling the evil Kyuubi and saving all of Konoha!

_The Yondaime's Final Battle _was her second most-favorite book _ever. _Her favorite was _Icha Icha Lucky Draw_ but Rin-neechan didn't like it when she read the book.

"That's right," Kakashi chuckled. So many kids looked up to the Yondaime as their hero, but only Naruto would get the pleasure of learning that the man behind the legend was her father…

"He killed the Kyuubi!" Naruto shouted, happily. That brought Kakashi up short. He grimaced, as he tried to think what his beloved daughter's reaction would be to learn that the Kyuubi hadn''t died and was instead sealed inside her… by her own otou-san.

"So you understand why you can't tell anyone?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto nodded. "Will I have to keep it a secret forever?" her blue-violet eyes were questioning.

Kakashi's eyebrow rose. Smart girl. "No, you can tell people about your father and mother after you become a Chuunin."

"Good," Naruto declared happily, moving out of his lap and gathering up several of the fallen photos, "Tou-chan do you know any other famous people?"

"I know plenty, but this is hardly the time for that discussion," Kakashi deflected. He couldn't wait until Naruto learned who her godfather was. She would have an aneurysm from sheer happiness. Jiraiya was her favorite writer, and a legendary ninja besides.

Naruto obediently slid back into bed, after reverently handing the jewelry box back to her tou-chan. When Kakashi had her neatly tucked in, she asked one last question.

"Tou-chan, I was wondering…" she began, causing the man to look over at her, wearily.

"Yes?" Kakashi ventured, mentally wondering if it would have been smarter to just walk away.

"Auntie Yoshino said that you and nee-chan are in love!" Naruto chirped, "So since you're my tou-chan, she's like my second kaa-chan, right?"

The deer in the headlights look Kakashi shot her clearly showed that he didn't agree with that. Naruto sighed. Her tou-chan was so silly.

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In truth, every generation of Konoha ninja had their own heartthrob. The Warring Clans era fangirls spent most of their time alternating between Madara Uchiha and Hashirama Senju (with more time with the Uchiha, since Hashirama had decided early on that he was madly in love with Uzumaki Mito, much to said girl's irritation). The Sandaime's generation actually favored Hiruzen Sarutobi himself, although the standoffish Danzo Shimura was also admired. In the Sennin's generation it was Sakumo Hatake, because Orochimaru, despite being very skilled, didn't have the natural good looks and winning charisma the White Fang had.

The generation after that had several stars in the looks category, but the winner was unanimously agreed to be Minato Namikaze. It broke no small number of hearts when Minato declared that he would one day marry Kushina Uzumaki, when they both had just turned ten. Despite receiving a bloody nose for his troubles from the girl herself, he refused to take it back. And in the end, Minato was clearly able to change the heiress' mind, since little Naruto was born.

In Kakashi's generation, he was dismayed to learn that _he_ was the prince of choice for young girls in the Academy. Unlike his father or Minato, he wasn't particularly kind with the way he dealt with fangirls, which paradoxically endeared him to them even more (it was a vicious cycle). The Hatake was indifferent to the girls who fawned over him, or for that matter, the boys who disliked or challenged him. He had been so much more powerful than his peers, so much more mature due to his father's death, that he simply couldn't connect with them.

That's why Kakashi had never really entered into any romantic entanglements. The girls were annoying, weak, and more interested in looking good than in becoming powerful kunoichi. He was grateful when the kunoichi assigned to his team was Rin Nohara, one of his more sensible admirers. He knew that she liked him, but was able to ignore it since she kept up a professional attitude as they worked.

As they continued working, he had believed that Rin and Obito would end up together since he clearly loved her and she was starting to fall for him, and was generally indifferent to that. Then Obito died, and Rin's feelings- towards both him and Obito- had suddenly been buried under a workaholic nature. Kakashi couldn't fault her for that, since Obito's death brought up his own feelings of inadequacy and guilt over his father's death, and he, too, buried himself in work.

The situation had stabilized when Sensei and Kushina-nee got married, but then the Kyuubi attacked, and everything changed _again_. Now they were essentially raising a child together- with much help from Yoshino Nara- and Kakashi was uncertain again. Did he love Rin? Certainly, she was one of his most precious people. Did he love her _romantically_? Can he love her romantically? Could he love anyone romantically, at least enough to beget a child to carry on his clan name?

Kakashi frowned. He didn't like having to base a relationship with Rin on the practicalities of being a clan head. Nevertheless, he was a Clan Head, and Naruto was not in a position where she could carry on the Hatake name. Rin would be the ideal fiance: a trained kunoichi without clan affiliations that might require the Hatake to become a branch of a major clan. At the same time, he didn't really want to base a relationship on how valuable she would be to his clan.

He wanted what Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee had. What his own parents had.

Regardless, he should probably starting dating somebody soon. Nineteen was young until you realized that you're the last member of your clan and happened to work in as dangerous a profession as being a ninja. And he doubted she would make a step towards forming a relationship, if she even wanted one.

"Kakashi, is there anything on your mind?" Rin inquired, using the kitchen towel to dry the final dish before looking over at him. He had been sitting in the kitchen table, staring at his ANBU report for the last fifteen minutes.

Kakashi let go of his pen. "Go out with me Friday night?"

Rin nearly dropped the plate. "What?"

Kakashi looked at her inscrutably. "Go out. With me. Friday night," he said, in short, staccato bursts. He paused in momentary reflection, "We could have dinner. That's what they do in dates I think."

Rin's lips quirked. "And will you be bringing me home?"

Kakashi stared at her, as if she was crazy. "Of course," he answered, "Friday's your night to tell Naruto a bedtime story, isn't it?"

Rin couldn't help it. She laughed.

Kakashi's brows furrowed. "Is that a no?" She shook her head, still giggling.

"I'd love to go out with you," Rin said, sincerely, giving him a brilliant smile. Kakashi still looked confused.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter Six

Like most children from shinobi families, Naruto's training began long before she entered the Academy. Her earliest training took the form of games: strategy in frustrating matches of shogi at Shikamaru's house, history and geographical knowledge in bedtime stories, endurance and tactical decision-making in games of ninja tag with Kakashi's ninken, and finger dexterity for making hand seals in a complicated string game taught by Rin. Naruto didn't consider those games to be training of course. They were a fact of life, like three meals a day. And why would she question three meals a day?

The first time she _actually_ received training- in Naruto's opinion- was when Rin drew her outside one afternoon to practice chakra control.

"Are you going to teach me a super cool jutsu?" Naruto asked, looking up at her nee-chan with wide, pleading eyes. The five-year-old had seen her father use a jutsu only one time in her life- a simple Suiton jutsu to water the plants when he was too lazy to get it done by hand- and had been dazzled. Compounding that was her knowledge that her father supposedly knew a thousand jutsus, which meant that he specialized in ninjutsu. Since her father specialized in ninjutsu, and he was an awesome super-cool ninja badass, that meant _she_ could be one too, if she learned ninjutsu.

The associations of a child's mind were truly glorious things.

Rin sweatdropped as the young girl suddenly became starry-eyed at the thought of potentially destructive power.

"Not quite," she smirked, settling down on the grass and patting the spot next to her for Naruto. "Do you know what jutsus are made of?"

"Chakra?" Naruto stated, hesitantly.

Rin smirked. "Is that a question or an answer?"

"An answer," Naruto said, firmly.

"Good," Rin looked pleased, "So chakra is the combination of spiritual and physical energy- Yin and Yang. The basic explanation is that Yin energy comes from your experiences and imagination, so you can increase it by expanding your base of knowledge. Yang energy, on the other hand, comes from the vitality of life, and can be increased through physical training. Are you with me so far?"

Naruto nodded.

"To create ninjutsu, what are you doing?" Rin asked.

"You're making stuff happen," the girl offered.

"Well, yes, but what else are you doing?" the medic-nin picked up Naruto's hand and placed it on top of her own. A small burst of blue chakra leapt up from her hand and landed on Naruto's. The child gasped as the tingling sparks of energy danced across her palm.

"You're… making something?"

"Exactly," Rin's fingers steepled over Naruto's palm, gathering the blue sparks and tossing them away. The energy fizzled out as it reached the ground. Rin tucked back her semi-long brown hair and looked at the awed expression on Naruto's face with satisfaction.

"All jutsu is essentially creation," Rin continued, "We use our Yin Release to create form out of nothing, and then we utilize Yang Release to breathe life into our creations. Think about that for a second, and tell me what realizations you've gained from that."

Naruto lied back against the grass, and stared up at the clouds as she thought. Rin simply sat and waited patiently for the young girl to draw her own conclusions. She firmly believed that simply feeding information to students hindered their growth in later years, when they had to become creators and researchers along with learners. Smiling, she too looked up at the lazily drifting clouds.

"The Nara's shadow jutsu," Naruto said, suddenly, "It's more Yin than Yang isn't it? It doesn't have much physical form and can't move independently from Shika's control."

"Excellent example," Rin praised, "Most bloodlines rely on different ratios of Yin to Yang energy to perform their special jutsu. The body's natural state is to be as close to the perfect ratio as possible, though that, of course, is impossible, and your chakra is constantly shifting within you. The clans have to be very careful to keep their yin and yang ratios stable over the years, even though generations of breeding have made it possible for them to survive the chakra imbalance and use their techniques."

"Chakra is so essential, that is can even influence your personality and mindset sometimes. You have a lot of Yang chakra, and are naturally exuberant, athletic, and extroverted. In comparison, Shikamaru, with his Yin imbalance, is very calm, quiet, and mild-mannered."

"You forgot lazy," Naruto pointed out, helpfully.

"And lazy," Rin agreed. "That's why personalities, specializations, and so on run in families."

The redhead stayed silent for a few minutes, digesting that, before Rin spoke again.

"Another example," she prompted.

"The Yamanaka would have more Yin than Yang, and the Kurama too, since they specialize in genjutsu," Naruto added, recalling her knowledge of Konoha's greatest clans, "For Yang to Yin… um, the Inuzuka, maybe?" At Rin's encouraging nod, she continued, excitedly. "And the Akimichi! And tou-chan has a Yang to Yin ratio too, right? His white chakra makes him faster and stronger."

She paused then, and scrunched up her nose in a contemplating manner. "What about the Hyuuga and the Uchiha, nee-chan?"

"The Byakugan allows you to see through solid objects so I think Yang to Yin. What does the Sharingan do, Naruto?" This question, Rin knew, Naruto would be able to answer easily.

"It sees chakra patterns!" Naruto shouted, "Tou-chan can see how the chakra moves and copy jutsus with that. So… Yin to Yang?"

"Correct," Rin said, "Now, Kakashi has a Yin to Yang imbalance from the Sharingan _and_ a Yang to Yin balance from his white chakra. How does he have both?" The redhaired girl shrugged.

"Tou-chan's just that awesome?" she tried. Rin barely suppressed her smile, instead adopting a stern expression.

"I won't disagree with you… but no," the woman laughed, "His Sharingan's an implant from… a good friend of ours. He was our old teammate, Obito."

"What happened to him?" Naruto looked curious. She didn't get to learn that much about her nee-chan and tou-chan's childhoods.

"He died on a mission," Rin's tone made it clear that this was the extent of the information she was willing to give. Naruto didn't press her for any more. "The Sharingan is meant for Uchiha bodies though, with their Yin to Yang imbalance, and is more difficult for Kakashi to use. He doesn't have that much Yin chakra, and the Sharingan burns through his small reserves very quickly. That's why he only uses it as a trump card or when he wants to steal enemy jutsu."

"And when he runs out of Yin chakra, he's really tired," Naruto added.

"Yes, that's chakra exhaustion," Rin explained, "And its' the second leading cause of a shinobi's death, second only to enemy ninja. All living things need to have a modicum of chakra to survive, and when you don't have that amount, your organs and bodily functions steadily start shutting down until your heart is no longer capable of pumping blood. I don't think I need to underscore just how dangerous it is." Naruto, blue-violet eyes widened in horror, nodded.

"Well, you need to keep some Yin and some Yang chakra in you at all times," Rin began, "Exact amounts vary, but it is generally agreed that clan members need more of one type then the other. Kakashi has more Yang chakra than Yin, so he can afford to use elemental ninjutsu more often than he can use, say- the Sharingan. Understand?"

"Yes," Naruto replied, "Which chakra do you have more of, nee-chan?"

"I have more Yin chakra, like most kunoichi, and I gained even more from my iryo-nin training," Rin answered, holding her hand out, palm up, and filling it with light green chakra.

"So you would have used the Sharingan even better than tou-chan," Naruto noted.

"Yes and no," Rin elaborated, "Theoretically, I would have more Yin chakra to utilize, but Kakashi has larger reserves overall. I have more Yin than Yang, but he has more of both, and the Sharingan compliments his analytical, logical mindset better. Chakra is a strong indication of specialization and power, but it isn't the _only _thing that matters."

"Which chakra do I have more of?" Naruto wanted to know.

"I'm not sure," the older girl admitted, "You probably have a lot of Yang chakra because of how energetic you are, but girls usually have more Yin than Yang."

"So I have a lot of both!" Naruto said, triumphantly. "Yatta! I'm going to be the strongest ninja _ever_!"

"Yes, you probably do…" Rin mused, suddenly grabbing Naruto's arm and hauling her up to a sitting position, "So we're going to try an exercise!"

Naruto's indignation at being manhandled suddenly melted in the face of her enthusiasm to learn. "Alright nee-chan, what do I have to do?" she demanded, "I'm ready for anything you have to throw at me!"

"You are going to…" Rin drew it out, temptingly, causing Naruto to draw forward in eager anticipation, "Meditate!" The redhaired girl's face fell.

"You suck nee-chan," she grumbled, causing Rin to smirk in response.

"Aw, that hurts, Naru-chan," Rin pouted, "Unfortunately for you, I was serious. I need to gauge how much chakra you have and what type your favor. So, you'll need to sit down, close your eyes, and try to reach 'inside', for lack of better word, to find your chakra."

Naruto looked sulky, but made herself comfortable with her legs crossed under her. "When will I know that I found my chakra?"

"Trust me, you'll know," Rin answered, cryptically.

Naruto closed her eyes and tried to focus inward. It was distracting at first, every part of her body thrummed with energy and her fingers intermittently twitched. Then she became aware of the sounds around her- Rin's slow, steady breathing, the whistle of the wind, a soft chirping sound… The sun was warm and heavy against her skin, caressing the uppermost of her head and shoulders and leaving the rest of her body offhandedly cool in comparison. Blades of grass were crushed under her weight, a few sole green strands poking into her legs. Time became meaningless.

It was small at first. A part of her body felt different, warmer, and she 'touched' it curiously. She poked it and prodded it, and it was like the jello she had for dessert last night, not water, but not entirely solid either. It folded around her touch, and she kept pressing it in further and further, trying to find the end of the mash of energy. Then she touched something wet and cold in the inside, and it burst. Then, as if a dam broke, energy, cold, and comforting, and like a heady rush of adrenaline, suffused her entire body.

Naruto gasped in shock as her body began to thrum with the energy. She laughed. This was wonderful! It was a rush! So addictive- like cold water on a hot day, or her tou-chan's hugs, or the warm feeling of triumph that came with mastering something new…

Rin watched intently, as the young girl's body began to emit a soft, blue light. It was only a thin layer, but it would be sapping her reserves quickly. An eyebrow quirked upwards in surprise as translucent droplets of water appeared in the air closest to Naruto, suspended in the air by the force of chakra.

"Naruto, that's enough," Rin said loudly, clearly, reaching out a hand of shake the younger girl, "Get out of there, Naru-chan. You did it." A little too slowly for Rin's comfort, the words began to reach the girl and make her stir.

"N-nee-chan?" Naruto asked, groggily, opening blue-violet eyes brightened by chakra. She shook her head like one of Kakashi's ninken trying to dislodge water, and actually throwing water droplets around, much to Rin's amusement.

"You did it," Rin praised, quietly, drawing the girl into a hug, "I'm so very proud of you, Naru-chan. Children normally find their chakra in their second year of the Academy, so you did it four years early."

"What ratio do I have?" Naruto asked curiously, disregarding the achievement. It may be impressive to other people, but her tou-chan was already in the Academy at her age, and she knew for a fact that he had activated his chakra before the Academy. And otou-san was supposed to be a prodigy too.

She had a lot of live up to.

"You're very lucky, since you have a near-equal ratio of Yin to Yang," Rin said, "And with such an abundance of chakra, you'll be able to enter any field of your choice. Your control is far from ideal, but you can improve it over time, and reserves like huge will let you get in a lot of practice."

"_And you'll need that practice, especially if my suspicions prove true," _Rin thought, silently, "_Only half of the Kyuubi could be sealed, and my bet's on the Yang half since the mental power of the Kyuubi would destroy any infantile mind. You really lucked out by being a girl, Naruto. If you were male, than you would have had a grossly disproportionate Yang to Yin imbalance, and would probably never be able to use iryo-ninjutsu or genjutsu."_

"Okay," Naruto was very satisfied with her results, "Nee-chan, why am I wet?"

"You have a lot of chakra Naruto," Rin noted, smiling, "Some of it converted into elemental chakra. There are five elements, and a person could have an affinity with any of them. Having an elemental affinity just means that jutsu using that element will come more easily to you. It's an advantage without any drawbacks. Care to guess which affinity you have?"

Naruto grinned. "Suiton?"

"One of the strongest affinities I've ever seen for it," Rin confirmed, "It's rather remarkable if you consider your young age. Suiton is a very versatile element that can change not only shape, but state of being as well. It also had a variety of uses, unlike elements that are used primarily for combat like Futon, Katon, and Raiton, or elements that are used primarily for defense, like Doton. People with the Suiton are typically open to change, flexible, and take alternative paths to succeed in their goals."

"Cool element," Naruto looked satisfied, "So now that I found my chakra…"

"We can go inside and have lunch," Rin finished, making the girl wilt. She reached out a hand to ruffle Naruto's red hair, making the girl look up and smile.

"We went over a lot of information today," Rin murmured, "And you did very well in learning it and finding your chakra. Why don't we go out for lunch?"

Naruto perked up. "Where?"

"Well, there's this little ramen stand our sensei always took us to," Rin mused, "Mostly because if he hung out long enough than this kunoichi he was obsessed with would show up for her daily intake. I think it was called Ichiraku Ramen. Maybe we can go there."

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"You keep moving the food around," Kakashi noticed, "Do you want to order something else?"

They were in a small, tasteful restaurant a few streets away from the main market. The food was great, the atmosphere was friendly, and- most importantly for Kakashi- he wasn't required to change into civilian formal wear.

Restaurants who did that in Konoha were rare, and generally not that well-attended. In the shinobi's case, they didn't want to wear clothing not specifically designed to be durable, protective, and filled with hidden pockets for kunai and the like. In the civilian's case, most of the higher-paying ones didn't want to seem like they supported an environment unfriendly to the trained assassins that lived here.

"It's not that," the young woman sighed, and placed her fork down. Her clothes were superficially civilian-styled, but still made for shinobi. She wore a dark green blouse paired with a black pencil skirt and black flats. A thin necklace of silver with a senbon ornament- filled with her own paralyzing poison- lined her neck. Another band of silver, inscribed with seals, was on her wrist as a bracelet.

"Can you put up one of your privacy seals?" she requested.

One eyebrow rose in concern, but Kakashi quickly took out two strips of paper and pasted them against the desk. Biting his finger, he swiped a thin line of blood over it, and the paper glowed for a second. With a smile, Kakashi allowed his girlfriend to heal the cut with a small application of chakra.

"No one outside of a two feet radius of this table can hear us," Kakashi informed her, "And the second seal makes our face blurry to onlookers, making it nearly impossible to read lips."

Rin relaxed a little. "Thank you." She took in a deep breath, and fiddled with the stem of her glass a little bit. "I was wondering…" Kakashi began to feel concerned.

She faltered for a second, and then forged on. "...why you didn't tell me that Naruto's a jinchuuriki."

Kakashi stilled. "How?" he demanded.

Rin winced, making the young man pause. Kakashi didn't want to hurt her. Rin was one of his closest friends, not to mention his girlfriend, and Naruto would be distraught if she was hurt. Kakashi was the one to wince this time. Naruto was going to be hurt either way, when she rejected her…

"I don't _care_ that she is," Rin said forcefully, leaning forward to make her point as evident as possible, "I- I was practically a mother to her as she grew up! I was there when she first spoke, when she took her first step, when she did basically everything. I nursed when she was sick, played with her when she was bored, and read her stories at night. I don't care if she's a jinchuuriki! I love her anyway!"

Kakashi listened to that, stunned. "Then why would you be mad-" Rin cut him off.

"I'm angry that you didn't tell me anything!" Rin all but shouted. Then she just slumped in her chair. "Don't you trust me?"

"It was a family matter," Kakashi protested.

"And I'm not _family_," Rin hissed.

"Not yet," Kakashi muttered rebelliously. That drew her up short.

"_Excuse me_?" Rin stared at him with wide eyes.

"I wanted a chance to get my mother's ring resized first," Kakashi admitted sheepishly, "But yeah, this is kind of unromantic… Um, will you marry me?"

Rin stared at him for another few seconds, and then, "NO, I will not marry you!" she exploded. "I'm still angry at you for not trusting me with the truth!"

"The Hokage made it an S-ranked law," Kakashi interjected quickly, "Also, it was Sensei's last wish that I keep my mouth shut."

Rin's mouth snapped shut in shock once again. "Even if Sensei shoved the Kyuubi inside of some baby, he still has no right to-" she raged, and then paled, "Fuck, Sensei actually had a kid?"

"Yes, I believe he engaged in both of those experiences," Kakashi said, obscenely cheerful in front of her world being shaken upside down.

Rin's mouth opened and then closed and then opened again and closed again.

"That's why you weren't so broken up about Sensei's death," Rin whispered, realization appearing in her eyes, "You _knew_ that he had a child. You got to _raise_ Naruto…"

"And so did you," Kakashi pointed out, softly, "You said it yourself. You were practically a mother to her." Rin sat down, and just stared at her hands. Slender fingers were twisting around each other, shaking slightly from the shock. She picked up her glass of sake, and took in a long drink. The burning of the alcohol down her throat cleared her of her shock.

"Sensei's kid, jinchuuriki," Rin nodded, "Anything else?"

"Jiraiya's her godfather and Kushina-nee was the previous jinchuuriki," Kakashi admitted, "I can't think of anything else."

"Well, the Jiraiya bit was obvious, but _Kushina-san_ was a _jinchuuriki_?" Rin shook her head, "She's not what I expected a jinchuuriki to be like."

"And how many jinchuuriki do you know?" Kakashi asked wryly.

"Two. A hyperactive five-year-old and a ramen obsessed seal master," Rin took in another long drink, "You know I have a mission to Kiri tomorrow, but screw it. Someone else can go, and I can get drunk here now."

"I'm glad you're not biased against Naruto for being a jinchuuriki," Kakashi gave a happy eye-smile.

Rin sighed. "I could never be angry at her. As for you… I must be crazy, but yes."

"Yes?" Kakashi was unsure if she was agreeing to what he believed she was agreeing to.

"Yes, I will marry you," Rin clarified, "I love you. I'm furious at you, but I still love you. So the answer is yes."

Kakashi laughed happily, and then reached over to lightly kiss against her lips. They tasted of sake and strawberries, which was strangely enticing at that moment.

"I'm glad," the Copy-Nin spoke, "I couldn't imagine marrying anyone else."

As the two ninja enjoyed the rest of their dinner, the slender figure lurking outside of the building slipped away without a word. He had gotten much more information than he'd expected when he was ordered to shadow Kakashi Hatake. Valuable information. His Master would be pleased.

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When Rin first stepped into the Hatake Residence with an engagement ring on her hand- exactly a week after Kakashi had actually proposed since the ring really did need to be resized- she came face to face with a shocked Naruto. Rin had opened her mouth to ensure Naruto that despite her engagement, _nothing_ had changed, and she was still the most important person in their world-

"Finally!" Naruto shouted, jumping up from her seat and tackling the Nohara in a bone-crushing hug, "Tou-chan was taking _forever_. I thought he would never ask you!"

"You knew and didn't tell me?" she asked, pretending to be hurt.

Naruto ignored her false ire with ease, and eagerly grabbed at her ring hand. She eyed it with evident appreciation. "Of course I knew," Naruto replied absently, turning her hand around so that the diamond catched the sun's rays and glimmered, "Tou-chan wanted to make sure I was okay with it, before he asked you. Silly tou-chan. Why would I mind?"

"Your tou-chan is very silly," Rin agreed, "So what do you think of the ring?"

"I think I'm a genius," Naruto said with satisfaction. At the Chuunin's raised eyebrow, she clarified, "That's the Hatake Clan ring, passed down from clan head wife to clan head wife. It always has three interlocking stones: a diamond, a sapphire for the previous Hatake Matriarch, and a new gem for the woman it was given to. I suggested amethyst since it signifies healing and protection, matches the colour of your birthmarks, and is the gemstone for November, your birthday."

"I thought amethyst was February's gemstone," Rin commented, looping her arm through Naruto's and leading the girl into the kitchen. The young girl shook her head, strands of dark red hair flying around.

"Only for the modern calendar," Naruto assured her, "The ancient calendars used it for November."

"Well, it was a fine choice, Naru-chan," Rin ruffled the messy hair affectionately, "Thank you."

"I was glad to help nee-chan," Naruto waved her hand away, and smoothed down a few of her errant strands, "Did you show the ring to your friends?"

"Nope, you were the first person I wanted to tell. Although I see that my efforts were wasted," Rin mimed wiping away a tear, "I'll tell them at the festival tonight. Though I'm not looking forward to Kurenai's or Anko's teasing."

"I like the crazy snake lady," Naruto announced out of nowhere, "Nee-chan, do you know when tou-chan will be back?"

"His mission should be done by tonight," Rin replied, letting her go so she could shift through the cupboards, "Why do you ask?"

"If tou-chan's back, we can go to the Kyuubi festival," Naruto happily explained, not noticing how her nee-chan suddenly stiffened, "Tou-chan never let me go before, cause I was too young. But I'm six now! And besides, Shika-kun and Chouji-kun both went last year."

"I'll see what I can do," Rin promised, turning around with an armful of ingredients in her arms, "First thing first, what do you want for lunch?"

Naruto didn't even need to think about it. "Ramen!"

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"What do you think, tou-chan?" Naruto twirled around in her child-size kimono to show off her outfit. The furisode kimono was a deep purple, almost black, and had white lily petals falling down from the shoulders to the edge of the robe in a windfall pattern. The obi was a sash of pure white, and a pair of geta sandals completed the outfit. Rin was wearing a larger, more stylized version of Naruto's outfit.

"You look very pretty Naruto," Kakashi approved. He wore a matte fabric, three-kamon kimono of dark grey with a dark purple obi signifying his relationship to the two females. He wore his half-face mask as well. Both Rin and Kakashi wore navy blue haoris with the Hatake Clan symbol on the back.

"And me?" Rin asked, eyes glinting with humor as she stepped in front of him. Her dark brown hair was pulled up into a loose bun, held in place by two senbon.

"Stunning as always," Kakashi answered dutifully, leaning in close to place a light kiss on her lips.

"You're not that bad yourself," Rin teased, accepting his offered arm. Naruto held onto Kakashi's free hand on his other side as they walked down the pathway.

"I must be very lucky tonight since I have two beautiful women on my arms," Kakashi joked, briefly letting go of Naruto's hand to push the gates open.

"And don't you forget it," Rin replied.

The small family had a brief but pleasant walk up to the Nara Compound. Naruto had wanted to spend the festival with her friends, and that meant Shikamaru, Chouji, and Kiba. She was also on good terms with Ino, but they didn't get to see each other very often since the Yamanaka Clan was integrated into the main part of Konoha, and didn't keep a Compound.

"Shika-kun!" Naruto shouted, breaking into an awkward and slow run once the compound gates came into view. The Nara boy, who was slouching against the wall outside, neatly dressed in grey and black, raised his head when he heard the voice. His eyes widened, but he knew from experience that moving away from the incoming hug was futile. Instead, he just straightened and braced his body.

"Oomph," Shikamaru groaned lightly once Naruto's body impacted his. He lazily raised his arms to lightly circle around his friend, uncomfortably aware of the dark look her father was sending him.

"Hello Naruto," he grumbled slightly, but affection was still present. Naruto stepped back and beamed at him. They had practically grown up together, so she hear the fondness in his tone.

She turned and greeted his parents. "Hello Auntie Yoshino, Uncle Shikaku! How are you today?"

"We're just fine, Naruto," Yoshino looked amused by the girl's usual intimate greeting to her son. "And I hope you are also well."

"Yep," Naruto chirped, suddenly darting back and grabbing Rin's hand. She pulled it up in front of the lantern's lights, "Look! Tou-chan proposed."

"You've finally proposed, Kakashi?" Yoshino squealed, hurrying forward to coo over the ring, "It's very beautiful, Rin. When did he do it?"

"It was on our last date," she answered, with a small smile towards the suddenly embarrassed Hatake, "He asked me over dinner."

"Well I would have advised the walk home instead, but that's still so cute!" Yoshino smiled fondly at the young man she had helped mold into a proper father-figure, "You'll have to tell me everything? When is the wedding? Will it be a traditional ceremony?"

Rin disengaged herself from Kakashi's arm and the two women began to walk ahead, happily discussing the details of the proposal and the wedding. They left behind an amused Shikaku, a bemused Kakashi, a bored Shikamaru, and a happy Naruto.

"Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials," Shikaku said, nodding amiably at the Hatake, "I wish you every happiness."

"Thank you," Kakashi answered, stiffly, looking somewhat uncomfortable by the topic of the conversation. Shikaku noticed, and smoothly changed the topic to the upcoming Chuunin exams in Iwa, which served to occupy them for a long while.

"Your tou-chan's planning to marry Rin then?" Shikamaru asked, giving his friend a side-a-long glance.

"Yeah, he asked her a week ago," she answered, looking at him oddly.

"And you're okay with it?" Shikamaru's voice was concerned.

Naruto rolled her eyes. Why did people keep thinking she would be bothered by her tou-chan marrying? It's not like she hadn't known Rin for her _entire life._

"I think it's great," Naruto answered, grinning and looping her arm around his. Shikamaru made a noiseless sound of protest but didn't move away. "What do you want to do at the festival first?"

"Nothing," Shikamaru sighed, "It's all so damn troublesome. I'd rather be at home, sleeping."

"You do that all the time," Naruto scolded, "Don't you want to play the games, eat the food, watch the performers, see the fireworks-"

"No," the lazy drawl cut her off midway, and made the girl huff in displeasure.

"Don't you want to compete in the Shogi tournament?" Naruto added slyly, grinning at the momentary perk of interest in the apathetic boy.

"It's almost not worth it," Shikamaru griped, making his friend burst into a peal of laughter.

"You'll change your mind when you actually see the matches," Naruto promised, before switching her chatter to what Rin had taught her recently. Shikamaru quietly listened along, occasionally interjecting a comment or a 'troublesome' when she got particularly excited.

When they reached the festival grounds, Naruto was instantly silenced. The girl swiveled her head around in pleasure, taking in the colourful lanterns, bustling streets of well-dressed people, loud vendors, and laughter in the air. Shikamaru looked over at the wide-eyed girl, smiling softly at the hushed awe on her face. It was almost too much for the normally sheltered Naruto.

"Chouji should be waiting for us by the food carts," Shikamaru murmured, this time leading the unresisting girl through the throng of people, carefully sidestepping several groups of civilians huddled together over some game or another.

"Do you want to play a game first Naruto?" Kakashi asked, turning around and smiling down at his daughter. The suddenly shy girl shook her head negative, and tightened her grip on Shikamaru's arm.

"I want to find Chouji-kun and Kiba-kun first," Naruto explained, staring down the main street of the festival as though her friends would suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"I think I need to go find Inoichi and Chouza for a drink," Shikaku said, "Care to come along, Kakashi?"

"No, I think I'll watch over the kids," Kakashi replied.

"Tou-chan, we don't need watching," Naruto protested, "We're old enough to go by ourselves, right Shika-kun?"

"I don't care either way," Shikamaru answered, shrugging. The girl stared at him, aghast.

"Well I do!" she declared, "I'm old enough to go alone, right nee-chan?"

"Maybe next year, Naruto," the woman answered, evasively, "Yoshino, if you want we could watch over Shikamaru for the festival and drop him back home later." Kakashi opened his mouth to protest, but Rin discretely squeezed his elbow in a warning manner. The Hatake wisely shut his mouth.

"Could you?" the Matriarch of the Nara Clan looked delighted, "That would be wonderful. I can go find Tsume, Chiruki, and Minori then. Would you mind staying with Kakashi and Rin, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru looked like he would indeed _mind_, but just sighed in a resigned manner.

The two adult nara departed soon after, and the smaller party made their way over to the food stands. Chouji was indeed there, with his mother, and was soon left in their care in a manner not entirely dissimilar to Shikamaru. Kakashi took the time to buy sticks of ikayaki for the entire group. They were heading to one of the games when Naruto caught sight of her other friends.

"Kiba-kun! Hana-chan!" Naruto's shout was just pitched enough to carry over the crowd while avoiding any askance looks by the crowds. The feral-looking boy with messy brown hair, black eyes with vertical slit-like pupils, and sharp incisors was the first one to see them, and greeted them with a happy wave. Following at his heels was a small, floppy eared puppy named Akamaru, who was actually one of Shinrei's littermates. His older sister and the Haimaru triplets were walking at a more sedate place from behind him.

"Hey Naruto!" Kiba liked Naruto. She was a lot less annoying than other girls and had even more energy than _him_. Besides, Akamaru liked her, and she always respected the Inuzuka's partners.

"Hello Akamaru," Naruto cooed, scooping the white puppy up and rubbing him gently behind the ears. The dog showed his appreciation by giving a woof and licking her cheek. "What are you guys doing?"

"We were playing games," Hana answered, after offering polite greetings to the rest of the group, "We just won a stuffed animal at the ring toss game." She held up a bright blue elephant to show them.

Naruto's blue-violet eyes lit up. "Sugoi! I want to play a game too!"

"Why don't we find the goldfish scooping game?" Chouji suggested. They all purchased tickets and stood around the barrel of small fish, accepting a handful of thin paper poi from the vendor.

"You can do it Chouji," Hana encouraged, as the Akimichi first tried his hand at scooping up the goldfish. It took him several tries and a half-broken poi, but he finally stood triumphant, with a tiny yellow-orange fish swimming around in a plastic bag.

"My turn," Naruto announced, stepping forward. She bit her lip in concentration, eyes skimming over the fish until it rested on a particularly small and fast medaka. She tried her hand at catching it, making a sound of discontent when she first failed to catch it and then was unable to pick it up. She tried several more times, but each of the poi was shredded, each quicker than the other as her lack of success made her more frustrated. Finally, Naruto ran out and had to step back with an unhappy expression on her face.

"Maybe I could get it for you, Naru-chan," Kakashi suggested, taking out 100 ryo and stepping forward.

"I'm sorry, shinobi-san, but this game is only for civilians," the vendor looked apologetic.

"Let me try," Shikamaru said, moving to the front of the barrel. His dark eyes became fastened to the darting medaka, as he stilled. Not appearing to do anything for a few moments, Kiba had just opened his mouth to complain when Shikamaru's hand blurred. The poi flashed forward at a slanted angle, deftly scooping up the medaka and placing it inside the bowl.

"Here," the Nara mumbled, pushing the bowl towards an astounded Naruto as the group cheered.

"I can keep it?" Naruto asked, eyes alit at the offer.

Shikamaru shrugged. "It's a troublesome fish. You're a troublesome girl."

Naruto blinked once. "Thank you," she squealed, reaching over to give the Nara a hug. Shikamaru looked distinctly uncomfortable.

Rin looked at the heartwarming scene with a gentle smile on her face. She leaned against the taller shinobi standing next to her, bring Kakashi's attention on to her.

"Kakashi," she said quietly, eyes still trained on the children where Shikamaru was trying to unsuccessfully push Naruto off while the others laughed, "I think I want to try out for Jounin."

"Any reason," the silver-haired man asked, lowering his voice to a low murmur.

She looked up then, brown eyes glimmering with determination. "The same reason as you," Rin answered, "To protect moments like this. To see her grow up safe and strong. To make this happiness last forever."

Brown eyes fell on the laughing redhaired girl. "I think we've stumbled into something amazing here."

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_**Author's Note: 50 REVIEWS?! This is awesome, guys! Thank you! This story's really coming together, and I'm constantly amazed by the interest its' garnered. My traffic stats on a monthly basis look like an exponential graph, which is really heartening. I hope you all continue to enjoy this story. **_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Author's Note: WARNING. Some people will find a major age disturbance in the following chapter. I'm only writing this warning once. Itachi just regressed at least six years in age. Not in proportion, Sasuke just recently turned three. HE IS NOT THE SAME AGE AS THE REST OF THE KONOHA TWELVE. **_

_**This was not my original intention. However, '**_**someone'** _**(my sister) forgot to lock the computer before going to the bathroom. My little cousins were visiting, and somehow managed to delete all but one of my fanfiction files. I just lost pre-written excerpts, research on Japanese history, and my plotline synopsis. And my summer homework. That too. **_

_**This left me with one of two choices.**_

_**I could throw my cousin out, rage a little, and then painstakingly try to put the plotline together from memory, despite having made it over a year ago. Or I could throw my cousin out, take a deep breath, and start anew. I chose the latter (and boy did throwing a seven year old out via lifted shirt feel cathartic). Now all pairings except for Kakashi/Rin are kind of undecided. **_

Chapter Seven

Shimura Danzo prided himself on rarely being surprised.

He considered that to be one of his greatest assets, and therefore one of Konoha's greatest assets, in the cold, occasionally inhuman world of shinobi. His spy network could rival those of Jiraiya of the he Sannin or Sasori of the Red Sand, and surpassed them, at the very least, in his beloved village of Konoha. While young Jiraiya handled threats approaching from outside, he handled the little matters that popped up within.

He knew when Orochimaru first started his sickening experiments. He knew, but stayed silent, for any civilian- even a hundred, even a thousand, even ten thousand of Konoha's own- could not be as beneficial as a Sannin. His patience was tested when some of Konoha's own ninja were stolen, but Danzo still held his tongue. The village was barely recovering from a war. Jiraiya was running a- unfortunately necessary- spy network from outside of Konoha. Tsunade was two steps away from madness, and thus becoming a danger to others as well as herself. Orochimaru was still too useful.

(Danzo had no intention of keeping the Sannin here forever, but he was willing to wait until the last of those Iwa bastards left Fire Country. Hiruzen, bleeding heart that he was, disagreed, and _still_ couldn't put the snake down.)

He knew when the Uchiha first started planning treason, and it started a lot earlier than the Kyuubi attack. It would have occurred two generations early, but for the Third Great Shinobi War. He advised Hiruzen of the threat, and now watched him bungle up his diplomacy with despair. You don't _negotiate_ with an Uchiha. Agree to an inch, and they'd take it all the way to Kumo. In the end, he knew he would have to order a child to take care of the mistake the old guard couldn't handle. And the only possible candidate was Kagami's prodigal grandson.

(Danzo's greatest regret was not that he didn't offer his life in service to Konoha, but that young Shisui will be forced to become a kinslayer. What would his oldest of friends think of him now?)

Thus, it rankled him that the identity of the jinchuuriki came as a surprise.

"In retrospect, Kakashi gaining a daughter with the looks of Kushina was a little circumspect," Danzo muttered to himself, "Did you learn anything else?"

"No sir," Operative B14, clad fully in non-reflective black matte cloth, reported, "The chakra disruption seal worked just as you said it would sir."

Danzo nodded, unsurprised. Fuuinjutsu users didn't become full seal masters, in his book, until they realized that their own seals could be disrupted by others. Kakashi was still too young to have learned that lesson the hard way. He would thank Homura later.

"Would you like anything else, sir?" the Ne operative asked, tonelessly. Danzo waved his hand dismissively, and the young shinobi disappeared in a near-silent, leafless Shunshin.

The leader of Ne took a second to admire his clean floor. Unlike Hiruzen, all of _his_ operatives were skilled in the Shunshin and didn't leave debris scattered around. The Hokage could just _wish_ for that sort of discipline.

Then, he frowned. He had only been taken by surprise twice before. The first was when a redhaired young man with the rippled eyes of legend tore into his Ne with unexpected ferocity and killed Hanzo. The second was when a remarkably immature refugee of Whirlpool manipulated the current of politics to get her orphaned, civilian-born husband elected Hokage. Fittingly enough, they were both Uzumaki.

He weighed the pros and cons of exposing the girl in his mind, before dismissing the idea. The Hatake was nothing if not dedicated to his ward, and additional protection could be arranged in a discrete manner. Civilians simply wouldn't understand the benefits of having a jinchuuriki.

He made a mental note to also arrange for a closer level of supervision on the child. After all, it wouldn't do to have the Kyuubi jinchuuriki out of his influence.

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Suzume Himura greeted the incoming arrivals to the Academy with a genuinely cheerful smile. It was always heartening to see the excited faces of the children as they began their education. Most of them would never join the elite forces, unfortunately, but many would come to fill the essential support or administrative roles necessary to the running of Konoha. This school year had a few notable names as well, with the Uchiha heir, the Inuzuka heiress, and a few minor clan members.

Two families were willing to go so far as to enroll their children early. She eyed them with interest. Standing as far apart from one another as possible in the limited room of a courtyard were the Uchihas and the Hatakes. Studiously ignoring most of the crowd in general and Kakashi Hatake in particular, was the Uchiha Clan Head, his hand placed lightly on a dark-haired boy's shoulder. Young Itachi was a very handsome boy, with his silky black hair and smoky onyx eyes, but didn't show that much emotion as he surveyed the crowd. Poor child, he would be plagued by fangirls.

Naruto Hatake was as different from her fellow child prodigy as day was from night. Short to Itachi's tall, she had dark red hair tipped with yellow, cut in a chin-length bob around her face. It framed large blue-violet eyes, a slim nose, and a cupid's bow mouth upturned in a sunny smile. Her short-sleeved, knee-length tunic and shinobi-style pants were a dark navy colour- much more acceptable than the other girls' bright dresses- and had a violet sash wrapped tightly around her stomach. She was curiously looking around the yard, holding onto the hand of a pretty young woman with violet rectangles on her cheekbones. That must have been Rin Nohara, Kakashi's lucky fiance.

Suzume was watching the girl avidly, when Naruto's blue-violet eyes flit over the Uchiha Clan Head and caught Itachi's eye. She stared at him for a second- possibly surprise at finding another person close to her own age- and then grinned over at him brightly. The Academy teacher watched, amused, as the taciturn Uchiha child looked startled and then hesitantly returned the smile, his cheeks lightly stained red. They both broke eye contact a second later, though Itachi still kept a shadow of a smile on his face.

The romantic in her swooned at the adorable moment, while the practical shinobi side of her snickered at how badly both parents would have taken that minor connection. The Uchiha Clan were never the biggest fans of Kakashi Hatake.

She pushed the two students out of her mind, as she welcomed the next pair of anxious civilian parents with their excited offspring.

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Itachi Uchiha was bored as he waited for his Academy Instructor to call out his name. When she finally did, he gave his father one last nod and followed the group of- unfortunately taller- kids down the hallway. The room they entered was large and well-lit, with a high ceiling, spacious desks lining both sides of a center aisle slanted up, and a clean chalkboard.

Itachi was gratified. He _despised _dusty chalkboards.

The students were all directed to sit wherever they pleased, and many milled around, swapping seats and chuckling nervously when they caught each other's eyes. Itachi anxiously sidled away from one of the girl's staring at him while giggling, and chose a seat at the top left corner of the room. A second later, one of his new classmates sat next to him.

"Hello," a friendly voice said, directly to his right, "My name's Naruto Hatake! What's yours?"

He turned to see that it was the smiling girl from earlier, with the unusually bright-coloured eyes.

"Itachi Uchiha," he answered, after a short pause, "It is a pleasure to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too," Naruto continued grinning. Why was this girl so happy? "This is my friend, Hana Inuzuka! And these are the Haimaru triplets." She gestured to an older girl clad in blue and white, with three identical puppies dozing at her feet.

"Hello," Itachi greeted quietly, recognizing the Inuzuka heiress. They worked often with the Uchiha Police Force, since their enhanced sense of smell complimented the Uchiha eyesight. His favorite cousin was even crushing on an Inuzuka tracker right now, though knowing Shisui, there would probably be a new girl he was obsessed with by the end of the month.

Their conversation was cut short then, to Itachi's internal relief. He did not have that much practice with talking to the opposite sex. Or children. Or his peers. Or… anyone really.

"Welcome to Konoha's Academy, students," the curly haired Chuunin, who had introduced herself as Suzume-sensei, said loudly, "This is the first step on your journey towards becoming full-fledged Konoha shinobi and kunoichi!"

The class cheered, pleasing the sensei. Itachi's lips quirked upward in a tiny smile.

"As you all know, ninja are an integral part of Konoha's society and economy," Suzume-sensei continued, "They protect the village, bring in money from missions, and give Konoha great prestige in the international stage. Being a shinobi is a respected and dangerous profession. Ninjas have to train hard to gain the skills that they have, but once they gain them, they protect and serve the village with the utmost of their ability. I congratulate you all on taking your first step to joining the noble profession of the ninja!"

There was one more cheer.

"Now, let's all take a turn to introduce ourselves," Suzume suggested, gesturing to the first boy in the row, "Please tell me your name, likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future."

The boy stood up. He had short, grey-coloured hair, light amber coloured eyes, a yellow shirt, and a pair of dark brown pants. The student turned to face the rest of the class, with a stiff smile.

"Hello. My name is Shin."

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"How was your first day of class?" Rin had recruited the girl into helping for dinner and set her to stirring the soup.

"It was okay, I guess," Naruto shrugged."We had to introduce ourselves and get new books. I already knew Hana of course, so that was cool. And did you know that there's another kid there, who's my own age?"

"That would be Itachi Uchiha, the heir to the Uchiha Clan. Did you meet him?" Rin asked.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded her head energetically, sending errant strays of red hair flying around in a haphazard manner, "He was quiet. But okay, I guess."

"I heard he gained several fangirls on the first day of class," Rin gave her a sideways glance, "And how about you? Did you think he was cute?"

Naruto made a face. "Ew! No way, neechan. Boys are gross!"

She paused then, and added, in a considering manner, "Except for tou-chan I guess. He's badass."

"Naruto! Where did you learn that?" the dark haired woman looked down at the abashed redhead sternly.

"... Eh, Tsume-san?" Naruto offered meekly. Rin sighed. How was she supposed to protect Naruto from that kind of language if her supposedly _good_ role models used it?

"Well, don't use it again," Rin said, resigned. "Now what else did you do in class?"

"That's actually it," Naruto confessed, "It was very boring. I think we're going to do some physical exercises tomorrow, and she mentioned basics of chakra for next week, but that's it."

A momentary pause. "You could always give me another lesson, neechan."

Rin considered it. "I don't know…" she said, slowly, "I don't want you to get so far ahead of your classmates, that you become bored."

"If I'm bored, then I'll just graduate early," Naruto said, dismissively, "Isn't that what tou-chan did?"

"We were in a time of war, Naru-chan," Rin reminded her, "It's very unlikely that other students will be promoted as early as your father, or for that matter, most of the ninja in this generation."

"Still I bet you're a better teacher than any of the Academy senseis!" Naruto argued, turning to the med nin with wide, pleading blue-violet eyes, "Don't you want me to know as much as I can? I want to learn! _Please_, neechan?"

Rin hesitated for a few seconds longer, but finally relented. "I can show you a few things, then."

She smiled at the triumphant grin on her soon-to-be daughter's face. "We can begin with handseals I guess. Do you know what they do?"

"Tou-chan uses them to create jutsu," Naruto offered, "Since jutsus are powered by chakra, it's to… shape the chakra, maybe?"

Rin nodded. "Correct. There are twelve basic handseals-"

"-Wait, _basic_ handseals?" Naruto interrupted, "Does that mean there are more?"

Rin nodded again, pleased by the interruption. Her own teaching style was much less ridged and structured than the Academy's. Since she was only teaching Naruto information, and additional, in-depth information at that, she could afford to go off on tangents and encourage her sole pupil's curiosity. She wanted their lessons to be more like a conversation, in which both parties explored a new topic. Although, Rin would put her foot down if she was interrupted _constantly_, she knew that the young girl respected her and would usually wait for her to finish.

That's why she didn't scold Naruto for the interruption.

"There are unique handseals that can be used for special techniques," Rin explained, "As well as clan techniques that use basic handseals, such as the Nara's use of the Rat seal to end most of their shadow possession techniques. Although, theoretically _any_ handseal can be used for _any _jutsu, some handseals are preferred for some types of jutsu. Elemental jutsu being the most common."

"There are twelve basic seals: bird, boar, dog, dragon, ox, tiger, rat, horse, snake, monkey, hare, and ram. The tiger seal is commonly affiliated with fire elemental jutsu. Why do you think that is?"

"Well, people with the tiger zodiac sign are very passionate and temperamental," Naruto answered, "And the fire element is really destructive."

"Good answer. Symbolism is very important in the world of jutsu development. Remember, yin chakra comes from the imagination, and it's usually done to shape the jutsu. Yang chakra breathes life into those shapes; it supplies the fire for a fire dragon jutsu for example," Rin picked up a knife and started chopping a few onions. "In the shinobi world, the metaphysical is often as important as reality- and even more so, for certain clans like the Yamanaka Mind Walkers."

"What other handseals are used for jutsu, neechan?" Naruto asked.

"Another example would be dog, which is used for Wind Release, and snake, which is affiliated with Earth Release," Rin continued, "This can give you a hint as to what element-based bloodlines people may have. The Shodaime had Wood Release- a combination of Water Release and Earth Release- and most of his attacks ended with the snake handseal."

"That sounds very useful, neechan," Naruto added it to her mental repetoire of knowledge, "Are there techniques that don't need handseals?"

"There are several techniques that use pure shape manipulation or pure elemental manipulation to perform the jutsu," Rin commented, with a half-smile, "They are typically _very _difficult. That being said, you should be familiar with two of the most famous ones. A famous example of shape manipulation is your otou-san's _Rasengan_. And another famous example, this one for elemental manipulation, is your tou-chan's _Chidori._"

Naruto was duly impressed. "Wow, and they made the jutsus themselves?"

Rin nodded. "They both developed two techniques apiece. Kakashi created the A-ranked _Chidori,_ and it's more powerful S-ranked extension, the _Raikiri._ Minato-sensei made the _Rasengan_, and his most famous technique, the _Hiraishin_. It made them both famous, since jutsus are difficult to create, especially powerful ones."

"I'm going to create a jutsu too, one day," Naruto informed her, with a determined tilt of her chin, "What else should I know, neechan?"

"Why don't we set the table first, Naruto?" Rin said, instead, plucking the wooden spoon Naruto was using out of her hand before her vigorous stirring ended up tipping the pot over. "Then, over dinner, we can discuss one handed seals. Your otou-san was rather good at those too."

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"Is there any reason you needed to call me at this hour, Hokage-sama?" Kakashi Hatake was clearly displeased by this summon, to which Hiruzen Sarutobi merely gestured for him to take a seat.

The Hatake slouched down on the comfy seat in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Kakashi," he sighed, "I know you had dinner planned with your fiance and daughter. Unfortunately, a rather urgent manner has been brought up."

Kakashi straightened up. "Is this about the Kumo situation?" he asked, seriously, "I thought they had stopped testing our borders recently."

"No, Kumo's little skirmishes have been lessening," Hiruzen reached for his nicotine and took a long, deep smoke, "Have you read the debriefing on the Uchiha situation?"

Kakashi grimaced. "Yes, sir. I read the report from last week."

"You'll need to see the new update then," Hiruzen picked up a slim, black folder and offered it to the teen. Kakashi accepted it warily, and briefly skimmed over its' contents. Near the end of it, he suddenly stiffened.

"They _wouldn't_…" his tone was low and dangerous.

"I had Danzo's _Ne_ verify it," the Sandaime leaned back, dark brown eyes glimmering with both anger and sadness, "It's entirly truthful."

"Danzo's nonexistant _Ne _could back this, huh?" Kakashi noted dryly, before becoming abruptly serious, "The Uchiha must be crazy if they think they can contact Orochimaru, and not have the leadership aware of it. They can't possibly believe they wouldn't be punished for this."

"They're perfectly aware of the repercussions," Hiruzen grimaced, "I believe that they are… ah, testing their boundaries so to speak. This evidence is, of course, nonexistant since _Ne_ has been _disbanded_."

"Could this be a diversion?" Kakashi wondered, "Do they want us to focus on Orochimaru, as they contact someone else to support them during the uprising?"

"To be honest, I believe this to be a cry for help more than anything," Hiruzen confessed, "For all that the Uchiha resent the suspicion and restrictions that have befallen them, they are still proud of their connection to Konoha. They consider themselves- rightfully, I suppose- the cofounders of the Village. In the end, I doubt they'll betray it to a known traitor. Much less Orochimaru."

"Uchiha children were used in the snake's disgusting experiments too," Kakashi agreed. "What should we do in response though? We can't let these actions go without punishment, but if we do sanction them, then the war mongers will just use it as further justification of their repression."

"I had personally favored ignoring the contact, since it wouldn't have gone beyond prospective planning," Hiruzen admitted, making the Hatake stare at him in horror, "Yes, that was Danzo's reaction as well. _He_ had preferred swift and public retaliation, but we both decided that either of those options would be unacceptable to the Uchiha. Their clan has always required a rather… delicate handling."

"Prissy assholes were never satisifed with anything," Kakashi agreed.

The Sandaime coughed briefly to hide his chuckle. "Quite. Anyway, we finally decided to call on the expertise of someone versed in Uchiha dramatics. Danzo invited his old teammate, Kagami, over and we came to an agreement."

Kakashi lifted a single eyebrow in question, and felt a deeply foreboding chill when the Hokage looked away.

"I do not take pride in saying this…" the Hokage's voice was apologetic and instantly made Kakashi's blood run cold, "But we have decided to give the Uchiha something they have always wanted."

"We have decided to give them Obito's Sharingan."

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_**Author's Note: I'm sorry. I know this is crazy and confusing and diverges from cannon like hell. I had actually created a new storyline to fit this slightly canon-divergent story. Then, I threw it away. Because making stuff up as I go along is far more amusing than I had ever believed before. It's also very relaxing, and my life is so jam-packed with responsibilities right now, that I need something crazy, fun, and completely within my control.**_

_**So… yeah. I apologize.**_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note: I think most of you will be surprised. Also, keep in mind that in my story, everyone has an agenda. The only 'good' guys are the Hatakes, and that's because the story revolves around them, and their reasoning. That means that most of you will likely sympathize with Kakashi, Rin, and Naruto. **_

Chapter Eight

The Konoha Ninja Academy followed a cyclical class structure. Students were capable of signing up for the Spring Term or the Fall Term, and would then be placed in introductory courses for the Shinobi Arts. They would then be observed on a case-by-case basis for the first few weeks by independent Chuunin and Tokubetsu Jounin operatives, and placed into higher classes depending on their displays of proficiency. A student could be in an advanced line for one class- such as Taijutsu- while taking a remedial version of another class.

To graduate as an elite of Konoha, they must reach a certain level of Proficiency (at least up to Level 3) in all subjects, to be eligible for a Jounin Sensei. In most cases, graduates would otherwise be directed into the area in which they show the greatest skill, whether that be espionage, code breaking, tracking, and all manner of areas. The elite teams would also specialize in one area, but unlike the regular shinobi, they will also have to develop a modicum of skill in the other areas. After all, the elite of Konoha take the Village's most publicized and/or difficult missions, the ones in which the objective could change from tracking to assault to interrogation to whatever at any moment.

Most children took at least four years to fill in all the requirements to graduate. Some children were allowed to do so early, although the standards had been raised since the end of the war. The most famous example was Kakashi Hatake. On the first day, Kakashi had been placed in all of the first-form classes. On the second day, he had been raised to second-form. The fifth day placed him in third-form classes. By the end of the week, he had been taking specialized elective courses as his teachers waited for him to graduate. After all, it would not do to let a student become a genin with only two weeks of schooling. Better to wait for two months.

That way the rotation of teachers would ensure that no one got the brunt of Sakumo Hatake's ire.

Naturally, there were political favors called in for students who had certain connections or gained the interest of someone powerful. Clan heirs, for example, always made their way into an elite team, as did jinchuuriki, any half-skilled child of a civilian council representative, and children of elite Jounin. Since Naruto fell into three of the above-mentioned four categories, Kakashi knew that his daughter would be guaranteed a spot in the elite. And admittedly, may gain a little favoritism from teachers who wanted to suck up to Kakashi Hatake.

That didn't mean he wasn't pleased when she came home with top marks on her history paper.

"It was about the life of a Hokage, and I chose the Yondaime!" Naruto related happily, once her father had picked her up and swung her around in celebration. She carefully tucked her windswept hair back and grinned. "Itachi helped me write the essay. He's _really_ good at history, tou-chan. He researches it in his free time. He told me a bunch of cool stories about the Warring Clans Era. His paper was on the Shodaime, and he mentioned this funny story about how-"

Kakashi listened to his chattering daughter with one ear, as he mentally scowled. Itachi Uchiha. He really hated that name. He had never _met _the kid, sure, but the young Uchiha heir, alongside his older cousin, Shisui, had been giving him headaches for the last month.

They had also given him a painful case of blue balls. Rin had been quick to throw him out of her bed (technically _his _bed, which is why he slept in the guestroom now) once she'd learned the news. His fiance had not taken it well.

He probably should have chosen a more tactful way to say it instead of, "Our daughter's being engaged to some brat we've never met before because Obito's clan is planning an uprising".

When the Hokage had told him that they were going to return Obito's Sharingan, Kakashi had felt panicked, furious, and more than a little betrayed. _It was Obito's Sharingan. _It was the last gift his friend had ever given him, and his most prized possession, and they wanted to give it to a clan of stuck-up bastards who had never once appreciated Obito as the amazing shinobi that he was? It was heartless, cruel, and something that Kakashi would never agree to. They would have to pry it out of his cold, still corpse, if they wanted it that badly.

Then his brain kicked in, and reminded him that they legally couldn't take the eye away because it belonged to him, to Kakashi. And it reminded him that he had political power (rarely used but still existed), was protected under minor clan bylaws, and would have the public on his side. Then the Hokage apologized for his poor choice of words.

"_We're not going to give it to them right now," he explained, a little sheepishly, "We agreed that they will receive the eye when you're dead."_

_Kakashi had calmed down a little. "That's still assuming that I will agree to it," he said, hesitantly, "What makes you think I'm going to give up Obito's Sharingan, even after I die? I could just will it to one of my descendants."_

"_I don't think that you'll do that," the Hokage said calmly, "Not when the only alternatives are a civil war or the complete annihilation of your friend's clan. You won't be able to live with yourself."_

_Kakashi scowled, knowing that the Hokage was right. He couldn't bear to let his friend's clan be massacred, when he could make a minor choice to save them all._

"_Fine," he said, reluctantly, "I'll will the Sharingan back to the Uchiha Clan. Happy?"_

_The Hokage winced. "There's one other matter, I'm afraid. We need a way to tie the Uchiha Clan to Konoha and they need reassurance that you'll follow those terms. A political alliance secured by an arranged marriage was the final decision."_

Kakashi's first instinct had been to refuse, which he did, rather vehemently. Then the Hokage dropped another bombshell. Apparently, his security seals were not as secure as he would have liked to think. Danzo knew the truth about Naruto, and was willing to spill it to the village.

His heart had felt like it was being mercilessly squeezed to a pulp, but Kakashi had agreed to marry into the Clan. But they didn't want him. For some reason or another, Danzo wanted _Naruto_ to stand in place of the Hatake Clan.

Kakashi didn't believe it for a second. He just knew that this had the handprints of that wily Kagami bastard all over it. The Uchiha had been very impressed by Kushina, and had even tried to engage his daughter, Mikoto, to Minato Namikaze. The chance to get the child of two of the brightest stars of the past generation married to one of his grandsons would have been too tempting for the old man to resist.

The Hokage knew that. Danzo knew that. But they also knew that Kagami had great influence over the clan and his son-in-law, Fugaku. And if Kakashi refused, Naruto's secret as a jinchuuriki would be revealed and she would be taken away from him. The village would never allow the jinchuuriki to be under the power of any clan, even a minor one such as the Hatakes.

He was trapped between a rock and a hard place. So Kakashi stood up, politely made his goodbyes to his blasted Kage, calmly walked to the nearby training grounds, and _proceeded to decimate it_.

Had his own daughter's safety and happiness not been on the line, Kakashi would have point blank refused the marriage, killed Obito's entire clan himself, and called it a day.

As it was, force would do no good in this situation. While shoving half a dozen _Chidori_ through the trees served as a cathartic experience, it wouldn't provide any help to Naruto. Sitting down and considering it over, Kakashi admitted that the deal was fairly generous.

In exchange for losing the free will to marry whomever she wanted, Naruto would be marrying into either the top or close to the top of the Uchiha hierarchy. She had a chance to be the Matriarch of one of Konoha's Noble Clans, and any child, after the heir, would be guaranteed the Uzumaki name. Her husband was almost guaranteed to be a skilled shinobi - Itachi was a prodigy and Shisui had already begun to carve a reputation for himself. She would be wealthy, cared for, with a large extended family to rely on, and allowed to keep her own surname. It was very generous.

There was even an option to have outside lovers, for Kami's sake! (Providing no children resulted from the union.) Kagami Uchiha was certainly desperate to gain his daughter as an in-law.

The part about clan alliances was almost as generous, if in a completely different direction. While the personal benefits to Naruto aimed towards making her inclusive to the Uchiha Clan, the alliance focused on a mutual pact of defense and aid. There were no demands of tithes usually given in such an alliance, and not a single sentence even indicated the 'umbrella clan' clause, in which the Hatake would become a branch of the Uchiha after a few generations. Kagami had carefully written this to show that Naruto, and her clan, would be given every respect and courtesy the Uchiha could offer.

And in exchange, all Kakashi had to do was rob his daughter of the chance to find love.

Kakashi hated that. He hated the fact that he was essentially cornered, and that the price they were demanding was his precious Naruto. Had it been Kakashi himself, than he would still be bitter, but would have most likely accepted the proposal. He hated being helpless, and he hated Kagami Uchiha.

He also hated Itachi Uchiha and Shisui Uchiha, but that was unfair, and he should probably get over it since it was likely that one of them would become his son-in-law.

"What topic did you choose for your essay?" Kakashi asked idly, holding the gates open for Naruto to walk in. A floppy eared, grey and white missile ran over to his daughter, leaping up to be caught in the delighted girl's arms.

"Shinrai!" Naruto laughed as the puppy enthusiastically licked her face, "I'm glad to see you too, big guy. Did you have fun today?"

The puppy gave a sharp yip, making her giggle. "I think that's a yes. Are you hungry, Shinrai? I'm going to have lunch now, but I can pick up a treat or two for you. How about a fresh bone?"

"You spoil that pup," Kakashi sighed, as the ninken made his acceptance of that plan known.

"Shinrai deserves to be spoiled," Naruto retorted, pausing in her cooing of the cute puppy, "I decided to focus on one of the Yondaime's earlier exploits. My topic was on how he formed that treaty between Kusagakure and Takigakure. Sensei said that it was a 'refreshing take on a topic that has not been exhausted by the majority of your peers'. I think she was just glad I didn't write about Kyuubi."

"If I had to read two dozen badly written essays on one topic by children with poor grammar and little originality than I'd probably be pleased too," Kakashi agreed.

"I don't think all of the essays were bad," Naruto scratched Shinrai lightly behind his ear, "Itachi's essay was really good, and Hana's was okay too. There's also this quiet boy named Shin. We were researching for our topics in the library, when he came up and asked if he could study with us. He's a little weird, and I don't think he likes to smile much, but he gave in a pretty well-written paper on the Nidaime Hokage…"

Kakashi absently hummed his agreement, as they walked into the kitchen. Rin was already there, sitting on the table and looking over a few of her medical documents.

"Hi neechan!" Naruto interrupted her own exhaustive narrative of her school day to greet the woman with a hug. "I got full marks on my essay today!"

"Congratulations Naru-chan," Rin replied warmly, ignoring the silver-haired jounin. Kakashi winced. She was still angry with him. "Why don't you show your paper to Shika-kun? His mother invited you over to lunch at the Nara Compound today."

Naruto nodded, giving a few confused looks to the other two. Although she was young, Naruto was very perceptive and had felt the slight tension between her touchan and Rin.

"I'll go see him then," Naruto said, smiling at her parents weakly, before turning and heading back out the room.

"Don't forget to grab a scarf on the way out!" Kakashi added to her back, "It's still chilly, and you two might want to play outside today."

Naruto yelled out an affirmation, and then the quick, rapid taps of her feet could be heard as she ran out the door. Once the sound had faded, Kakashi looked up at Rin anxiously.

The medic nin still wasn't looking at him. She was staring at the papers in front of her, dark bangs obscuring amber eyes that were likely filled with anger. Kakashi was about to turn away, disappointed, when he fiance unexpectedly spoke.

"I'm going to be gardening for the next hour," Rin said, still refusing to look at him, "You might as well make yourself useful and use your Sharingan to pull the weeds up from around my plants."

She stood up, and gracefully stalked out of the room. Kakashi followed behind, filled with a profound sense of relief. He had the good sense to not mention that the plants had been weeded last week.

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"I still think its' way too troublesome to start school so early," Shikamaru drawled, from where they were lying on a hammock strung between two of the trees bordering the Compound. The large, finely woven wool blanket was still roomy despite being shared between the two of them.

"Think of it this way," Naruto suggested, folding her hands behind her head and threading her fingers together, "If you get it out of the way now, than you don't have to do it later."

"If you're going to go through the effort anyway, then you should prolong it as long as possible," the Nara countered. They had rehashed this argument many times before, for dozens of different occasions.

"There's a rabbit kicking its' hind leg up," Naruto pointed to the cloud in question. It was a particularly fluffy white one that could indeed pass for a rabbit should one tilt their head to the proper angle.

"And if you do it now, you'll just get more bother later since they'll expect you to be a prodigy," the lazy boy continued, "You end up getting harder missions. You'll have to put in more effort overall. Where's the rabbit?"

"If you're at a high enough level though, then you get to cherry pick your missions," the redhaired girl scooted closer, and directed the shadow user's hand towards the sky, "Touchan goes on really hard missions, but they're short and he only has to do 2-3 every month."

She smirked. "And you'll be expected to take harder missions anyway. You're the son of the Jounin Commander and Head of the Nara Clan, aren't you?" She laughed when he groaned.

"Troublesome," Shikamaru said darkly, directing a baleful stare at the giggling redhead before he directed his eyes back to the sky. The corners of his mouth were lifting up. "I see your one true love."

Naruto brightened. "Tsuki-kun?"

Shikamaru sweatdropped. "Not your porn characters, you idiot. I meant the ramen bowl."

She sighed. "I guess I should have remembered that he only comes out in the nighttime. He is the moon spirit after all." Shikamaru stared at her.

"What?" Naruto demanded to know.

"Troublesome girl…" the Nara mumbled.

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Rin's dexterous fingers easily made their way through the thorns of their alkaline roses, a special chakra-feeding plant cultivated by the monks in Fire Country. Each silky blood red petal was covered in a thin layer of poisonous dew, that bent away from the chakra covering her fingertips. Kakashi admired the concentrated frown on her beautiful face as she wrapped fingers around the outgrowth and mercilessly snapped the thin stems away.

"You've put a lot of work into the garden," Kakashi noted, looking at the expansive bed of cultivated soil. "It was a lot smaller before."

"Thank you," Rin said stiffly, still fiddling with her plant, "Naruto has been a big help, although I work on the harmful plants myself. Can you add some mulch to the mint leaf over there?"

Kakashi obediently set to following her order. "I've never seen that flower before. What is it?"

Rin took a brief glance at the dark purple petals with their bulging orangish veins and lit up. "It's a rare type of wildflower grown in Suna. The leaves are mildly toxic, and leave feelings of nausea and dizziness, but the real treat is in the roots. If you ground them up and sprinkle them onto another mixture of herbs, you can easily mask its scent. It doesn't work as well for liquid poisons, but its' okay because I have this amazing mix of…"

The Hatake mentally pump his fist in celebration as he listened to Rin expound upon the wonders of poisons and their various uses in assassination. He had always admired the passion in her voice as she talked about a subject that interested her. Her voice would rise excitedly and each point would be punctuated by wild hand gestures. He thought it was adorable the way her nose would scrunch up when she was displeased or she would tug at her hair when she was searching for a particularly obscure nugget of information.

"I thought it would be a great way to add to my repertoire for the Jounin exams," Rin admitted, grinning shyly at the silver-haired man. "Being a medic nin will give me a big advantage if I can finish mastering chakra scalpels for combat, but I want to branch out a little. Maybe add a few defensive jutsu too."

"I can show you the Earth Wall jutsu," Kakashi offered, "The Double Suicide Decapitation Technique is also pretty useful, and it's not very chakra-intensive."

"That would be great," Rin answered, sending him a thankful smile, before she realized that she was still mad at him. Her shoulders slumped. "Kakashi, what are we going to do?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted, "The entire offer is strange. I understand Naruto's value as a clan heiress, her jinchuuriki status, and the fact that she's likely to be a skilled kunoichi, but she's not so beneficial that Kagami should push so hard for her to join the family. Even if we add the inheritance she would receive from the Hatake clan, and as the sole benefactor of Jiraiya's estate, the Uchiha wouldn't benefit from it for years."

"Maybe its' due to yours and sensei's fame," Rin suggested, "The civilians may love the Clan, but all of the shinobi are looking at them with suspicion. A public alliance with Copycat Kakashi could alleviate that, even before news got out that the Yondaime's daughter was marrying an Uchiha."

"It's more plausible, but I still think there's something else," Kakashi sighed. "The contract is extremely generous. And even if the Uchiha have been… somewhat marginalized in recent generations, they are still one of the most powerful forces in Konoha. Anyone else would have jumped on the offer."

"I don't like it," Rin scowled, "The Uchiha Clan has always been a little shifty, and now they're planning a potential coup d'etat. I don't want Naruto to be involved with them."

"Is that what they want?" Kakashi wondered, "A jinchuuriki to back up their rebellion?"

Rin hummed thoughtfully. "Probably not. Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way, Kakashi. They may not want Naruto herself to marry into the clan, but perhaps she is a gateway to another resource. If that's true, than we can renegotiate this contract, while still appeasing Kagami-san."

"And if that doesn't work, we can always kill Danzo and the Uchiha Clan," the Hatake murmured.

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"I beg your pardon?"

Kakashi's steely grey eyes locked onto the Uchiha Elder's calm face without fear. "This is an addition that I would like to make to the contract."

They were sitting in a private room in the Hokage Tower, along with the Sandaime and Danzo to act as official witnesses and arbitrators.

"I see," the man's voice was indifferent, although dark eyes glittered with amusement and… was that respect? "I believe the former agreement was more than generous."

"It was," Kakashi admitted, freely, "But those are not the conditions that I would prefer for my daughter's contract. We can discuss the other points, if you like."

"You want me to make the betrothal conditional on both parties agreeing at their majority," Kagami's eyes skimmed over the additional lines, "And keep it a secret from the public."

"It would be kept from the agreeing parties as well," Kakashi clarified, "My daughter is too young to know anything about betrothals."

"Well my grandson is not," the older man retorted, "It is also against Uchiha Clan Law to keep contractual information secret from the party that it is brokered on behalf of."

"Then please feel free to tell him," the Hatake answered pleasantly, "I would ask that he refrain from discussing it with my daughter, though. I'd prefer to tell her about it myself, at my own time."

"There have to be concessions from your own side too," the Uchiha snapped.

Kakashi's face didn't betray his surprise. "Of course. Would you like to change one of the previous boons or add a dowry price? We could also-"

"You will agree to train him after he becomes a Chuunin," Kagami demanded.

Kakashi's forehead furrowed. "I'll be glad to train my future son-in-law," he gritted out.

"You have a lot of nerve boy, to challenge an Uchiha contract like this," the Uchiha commented, grudgingly. He chuckled once, and then signed his part of the contract with a sweeping flourish.

He pushed the paper towards Kakashi, raising his eyebrows challengingly. The younger man obligingly signed on the dotted line, and pushed it towards Danzo. Once all four men had signed the paper, and the Sandaime had given it his stamp of approval, Kagami leaned back on his seat. He offered the room his first smile for the day and raised a cup of sake in Kakashi's direction.

"To Naruto Hatake and Shisui Uchiha," Kagami said, "May theirs prove a fruitful and happy union."

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"You gave into the Hatake whelp rather quickly," Danzo commented, offering his old friend another cup of sake. After their meeting with the Hokage was over, he had invited the other man to join him in his office for a few drinks.

"It was too good of a deal to resist," the Uchiha answered, matter-of-fact.

"You agreed to a king's ransom and pulled one of the Uchiha's most eligible bachelors off the market for what amounted to a polite, long-drawn off, future 'fuck you'," Danzo pointed out dryly, "You can't actually expect Naruto Hatake to marry into the Clan."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Kagami smirked, "I hear that she's very good friends with little Itachi. I may get what I want, after all."

"What is it that you _actually_ want though?" Danzo asked, intrigued.

Kagami's smile dimmed. "What do I want?" he mused, "I want to serve my village as an active shinobi."

Danzo's mind began to connect the dots. "You can't though. You suffered that crippling injury to your knee, and you're taijutsu has never been the same since."

The Uchiha laughed mirthlessly. "Yes, my old friend. Now, why did I _actually _retire?"

The one-eyed war hawk shifted uncomfortably. It was barely perceptible, but Kagami's long familiarity let him catch it. "Your chakra-based virus."

"Oh, very good, Danzo! Tell me, was it Misami's wagging tongue that is to blame?"

"No, Takori," Danzo grumbled.

"The optometrist's assistant?" Kagami inquired. At the other man's wordless agreement, he nodded approvingly. "You took to my lessons well."

"You do know that your illness has progressed too far to be cured?" Danzo ventured, hesitantly, "Even Tsunade…"

"And you've reached the linchpin of my plan," Kagami said, "My disease may be terminal, but I am hardly the only Uchiha to have contracted it. Almost 8% of the clan suffers from it now, and the numbers are increasing 24% with every generation. It's even worse with the Uchiha who have active Sharingan."

His eyes took on a haunted cast. "You feel dizzy at first, perhaps a little nauseous or forgetful. Your chakra begins to flag, and you can't summon it with the ease you were used to. Your jutsu demands a little more each time, and your eyes sting when you activate the Sharingan. It slowly burns through your fat and muscles. The more you use your chakra, the worse the pain becomes. Discoloured circles rise in your flesh as the blood coagulates. Breathing worsens, reflexes slow, and your body feels as if you're being devoured from the inside."

Kagami's mirthless smile became bitter. "We have tried everything to cure it, or at least, halt the progress. The most significant portion of the clan's budget is directed towards developing drugs to minimize the symptoms. Doctors were called in from everywhere in the elemental nations. Marriages were made to people outside of the clan, to strengthen the blood. Every option was tried. Every expense was met. And yet, nothing. We are dying. The Clan is dying."

"Itachi has been recently diagnosed," Kagami said softly, watching the mingled horror and pity in his friend's eyes, "We try to test it from the earliest age possible. He doesn't know yet. How does one explain to a child that they will never reach their twenty-fifth birthday? Each new strain of the virus attacks more quickly and viciously than the previous one. I have had my shinobi career cut short. My grandson will have his life cut short."

"And you believe that one woman can find the cure to this?" Danzo asked.

Kagami shrugged. "We are in need of a miracle. Tsunade has performed many miracles in her lifetime. Perhaps she will perform one for the Uchiha Clan."

He took in a deep gulp of his sake. "That's why I was so desperate for Naruto to be in the contract. Tsunade may have renounced this village, but she has never renounced her family. The lure of her last cousin may be enough to draw her back into Konoha. It doesn't matter if she ultimately marries into the clan or not. What matters is whether she is linked to an Uchiha… and if Tsunade Senju can overcome her hatred of Konoha and our clan in order to help her cousin's future family."

The Uchiha grimaced. "Forced to court a Senju's favor for our survival? Ah, how the mighty have fallen."

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_**Author's Note: I want to thank all of my readers for the amazing, and occasionally long, reviews they left for the story. I know this chapter has been delayed by a week, and I apologize. Unfortunately, school has started again, and all of my time is dedicated towards that for now. So updates may prove sporadic and with lengthy time intervals in the future. **_


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